


Love Without The Wobbly Knees

by m4jor3tt3



Series: Love Without The Wobbly Knees [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Everyone thinks Rey and Finn are dating but they're just friends, F/F, Finn is a poet, Han is a grouchy History teacher and Leia is the principal, M/M, Poe plays lacrosse, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-09 22:15:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5557520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m4jor3tt3/pseuds/m4jor3tt3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High school is tough for everyone, regardless if you're the most popular kid in school, or just a kid trying to get by unnoticed by his crush. You make it, though. Eventually.</p>
<p>Me and my friend were talking about a cheesy high school AU and I decided to write it.</p>
<p>Title from Jack Campbell's song, "Absentee."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“What are you working on?”

“Nothing, really.”

“That doesn’t look like nothing, it looks like a novel.”

Finn and Rey were sitting outside in the courtyard during lunch, Rey rooting through her purse while Finn wrote lazily in a notebook, cheek resting in his palm. What had started out as a somewhat decent poem had slowly devolved into the repetition of meaningless thoughts and sentences: “Rey is wearing grey today,” “Someone is selling weed in the parking lot and they’re definitely not being obvious about it all,” “Mr. Solo and Principal Organa were definitely arguing in her office this morning.” Rey arched an eyebrow inquisitively, trying to peer over and catch a glimpse of his writing. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and she was wearing one of Finn’s hoodies that made her look even smaller than she actually was over a grey long sleeve t-shirt and black jeans. She rolled her eyes and sat back down, pulling a package of fruit snacks from her purse and tearing it open with her teeth. “Do you write that badly on purpose?”

“My handwriting isn't that bad,” Finn said defensively, looking up at Rey before quickly snapping his notebook shut and stuffing his pen into his pocket. Rey smirked, shrugging as she popped a gummy strawberry into her mouth, then glanced over Finn’s shoulder and made a small sound of disgust. “It must be twelve fifteen, here they come,” she muttered, producing her phone from her pocket before pushing the sleeves of the hoodie up to her elbows. Finn threw a brief glance over his shoulder before dropping his head into his hands.

It was the lacrosse team- or rather, only a few members of them who usually went to practice during lunch. There was Karé Kun, the junior varsity captain, her long sunny blond hair falling in waves down her back; Iolo Aran, who trailed behind the group shouldering three different gym bags; Jessika Pava, who walked alongside Karé, twisting her hair into a messy braid, and-

Poe Dameron. The captain of the varsity lacrosse team, Poe was a senior, but looked like he was a junior in college. He had dark curly hair that he had pushed back with a headband today, and hazel eyes that looked golden in the sunlight. He was wearing a dark orange shirt that bore the words “D’Qar Rebels Lacrosse” and a pair of crossed lacrosse sticks, a pair of worn blue jeans with a hole in one knee, and his varsity jacket. He must’ve just told a joke, because he was laughing loudly, eyes squinting as he clapped Karé on the shoulder, who did not look amused. Once he came into view, Finn quickly looked down at his notebook, trying to distract himself. Rey noticed this, and kicked his knee under the table.

“Ow, what was that for?” Finn said, pulling his leg up onto the bench to rub at his knee. Rey smirked, looking over at the group to see Poe had looked over at the two of them briefly before going on his way. Finn blushed, dropping his head onto the table with a thud. “You’re not good at being subtle,” Rey said with a laugh, finishing off the fruit snacks before crumpling the package in her hand and stuffing it into her purse.

“You’re the worst.” Finn said, voice muffled from having his face tucked into his arm. Rey laughed and reached over the table to pat Finn’s shoulder. “He’s pretty nice, actually,” Rey said, throwing the strap of her purse over herself and swinging her legs over the bench to stand up. “Remember that semester he was my lab partner? He was always cracking jokes, we never got any work done.”

“Yeah, I remember, you used my homework almost every day.”

“I mean, he talks about lacrosse a lot, but other than that, he’s pretty tolerable.”

“I don’t see how that’s supposed to help me.”

Rey nudged him with her elbow and giggled as they headed back inside, the noise of people leaving the cafeteria almost deafening. The two weaved carefully through the crowd, Finn nearly knocking over a handful of freshmen by accident.

“Hey, I’ve got a fencing match after school today, you’re coming right?” Rey asked once they reached her locker.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Finn asked, leaning against the wall and thumbing through his notebook again.

“I don’t know, maybe you wanted to spend the afternoon making googly eyes at _Poe Dameron_ ,” she said the name in a light sing song voice, throwing her head back and clapping a hand over her heart. “Doesn’t the lacrosse team have practice on Wednesdays?”

“I mean, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m- would you shut up?”

“You wouldn’t have their practice schedule memorized unless you’d gone to many, many, many of them before.”

“I’ve been to two, okay? You know, you get on my case about him a lot, but you’re hardly innocent.”

“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” Rey said, shooting a look at Finn as she pulled a book from her locker and slammed it shut. Finn crossed his arms, a smile coming to his face. “Remember last year when we went to one lacrosse match? Jessika Pava bumped into you on accident and you looked like a deer in headlights when she smiled at you-”

Rey’s face flushed, and she delivered a hard punch into Finn’s shoulder, who yelped and reached up to grab at the newly forming bruise under his shirt. Rey turned on her heel and headed down the hallway, and Finn quickly gathered himself and chased after her.

The rest of the day was like any other- fairly uneventful, Rey took a nap in sixth period, and Finn spent most of his time scratching down half-finished stanzas. Rey wasn’t in Finn’s last class of the day, Mr. Solo’s history class, which left him in the back of the room with only his notebook for company. Mr. Solo was an older teacher, he’d been at the school longer than most of the other teachers there, and he hated his job (or at least, that’s what he made it seem like.) He and Principal Organa were married, and they usually were not able to keep their marital spats out of the school- if you couldn’t find Mr. Solo in his classroom, chances were he was in Principal Organa’s office getting yelled at. No one could blame the two of them for arguing, though, considering their son Ben (who had taken up the moniker Kylo Ren and no one knew or understood why) had gotten in several fights, one of them ending in an expulsion, leaving Mr. Solo and Principal Organa no choice but to send him to another school. It was embarassing for the school, yes, but more so for the two educators- why they fought so often was obvious.

Mr. Solo had started to take attendance, then the phone on his desk rang. He looked at the number then simply groaned loudly, picked up the receiver then slammed it down again, then picked up a piece of chalk to scribble a set of page numbers on the board before storming out of the room. Everyone laughed lightly for a moment before pulling out cell phones and moving the desks around. Finn turned his chair to sit with his back against the wall, crossing his legs as he tapped the end of his pen against his notebook, only a few words he liked staring back at him amongst a sea of black, scribbled out phrases. He glanced up as he heard running footsteps slide into the room.

It was Poe, glancing around the room briefly before going up to someone’s desk and muttering something- probably asking if Mr. Solo had taken attendance yet. He smirked and nodded to himself briefly once he got his answer, then found a seat, only one desk away from Finn. Finn tensed slightly and looked back at his notebook, flipping to a blank page and trying to appear as though he was doing something. He managed to distract himself for a few solid moments, writing down a few lines before-

“Hey, can I borrow a pencil?”

Finn looked up, seeing Poe leaning over his desk. His hair was no longer pulled back but did shine lightly with sweat, curling up over his forehead. He had abandoned his jacket, and Finn could see it hanging over the back of his chair. He had a folder tucked underneath his arm, overflowing with sheets of paper. Finn blinked, then fumbled around in his pocket before pulling out another pen. “Sorry, I only use pens.”

“Eh, good enough,” Poe said with a shrug, taking the pen from between his fingers. Finn swallowed as Poe stretched his leg behind him, hooking his foot around the leg of his chair and pulling it over. “Thanks, buddy.” He said with a smirk, sitting down and setting the folder on the desk in front of him. Finn tried to discreetly watch what he was doing- from the folder he produced a lined piece of paper dotted with marks, a closer look and Finn found it to be sheet music. Poe began to tap his foot softly, murmuring something under his breath as he scribbled something else down. Finn quickly looked away and back at his own notebook, and he leaned back in his chair as he racked his brain for how to continue his poem.

Mr. Solo returned about halfway through the class, barking something about getting out textbooks, and then, when no one did so and looked up at him like he was crazy, muttering about why hasn’t he retired yet. He sat down at his desk and the class began to talk again, save Poe and Finn, who remained silent through the storm as they wrote.

Once class ended, Poe stood up and twisted his torso around to crack his back, then picked up his jacket and slung it over his shoulder. “Oh, yeah,” he said softly, turning back to Finn, who had just shut his notebook and slid it under his arm. Poe smiled softly, holding the pen back out to Finn. “Thanks again.” Finn blinked, then laughed awkwardly, shrugging.

“Keep it, I’ve got plenty.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Don’t want you to need a pen and not have one again.”

Poe stood a moment then smiled again, hooking the pen onto the folder that contained his music. “Well, thanks.”

“No problem.”

“It’s Finn, right?”

Finn’s mouth dropped open slightly before he smiled and nodded. “Yeah, it’s Finn.”

“Thanks, Finn.”

And Poe smirked, the folder disappearing beneath his arm before he quickly left the room. Finn stood still for a moment, just thinking, before leaving himself to go and find Rey.

**///**

“You doin’ alright, Dameron?”

“What? Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You look like you’re in the clouds.”

Poe was sitting on the bench on the sideline of the lacrosse field, his helmet in his hands and his stick in the grass. Karé was in front of him, one gloved hand on her hip and her stick over held behind her shoulder. She was arching an eyebrow at him, and her head tilted slightly at his response. “Come on, we’ve got a game on Friday.

Poe thought for another moment before he nodded and got to his feet, placing his helmet onto his head and retrieving his stick from the ground. They ran through a few plays they knew would work against the team they were against that Friday, then worked on a few new ones, but Poe wasn’t in it for some reason. He let slip several scores he could have easily stopped, and Karé and Jessika both checked his shoulders seven times collectively. Even some of the younger players got passed him. They called practice early, and Poe found himself lingering behind everyone else as they made their way back to the school locker rooms.

After he’d stuffed his pads and practice uniform back into his bag and took a shower, Poe was met by Jessika at the door to the locker room. She was leaning one shoulder into the wall, and had changed into a pair of torn sweats and a school t-shirt, her patched and buttoned backpack hanging off one shoulder. . Her arms were crossed, and she was wearing a perplexed expression. “Somethin’ wrong, Testor?” He asked, adjusting the strap of his bag before making his way toward the gym doors.

“There’s nothing wrong with me, captain,” Jessika said, quickly catching up and walking by his side. “Seemed like something was wrong with you, though.”

“I don’t follow.”

“I’ve never seen you play like that.”

Poe thought about it, pursing his lips before shrugging. “I’m probably just tired. Everyone has off days.”

“I’ve never seen Poe Dameron have an off day.”

Poe shrugged again, digging through his pocket for his car keys. “You need a ride?” He glanced over at Jessika, who was arching an eyebrow at him before sighing. “Actually, yeah. Flat tire.”

Poe parked in the same spot every day. It started out as a happy accident- two years ago, he got to school fairly early so he could get in some quiet playing time in the band room, and he was able to park close to the doors. The week he started parking there, there was a band concert that coming Thursday, so he’d come in early to rehearse on his own time, and by Friday, the parking spot had just stuck.

Everyone could recognize Poe’s car, too. It was an old, beat up hatchback that he’d had painted black and orange, the bumper covered in stickers bearing the logos of college lacrosse teams. Having inherited the car when his mother passed away, he also inherited the stickers she had placed on it, including old presidential campaign stickers, as well as ones that said things like “Remember Your Humanity” and “Peace Through Music.” The bumper, in fact, was the only part of the car that was original from when his mother first had it, as the front end had been totaled in the car accident that killed her. Poe’s father had been nervous about giving him the car, although Kes Dameron knew very well that it wasn’t necessarily the car that killed his wife Shara Bey. Poe had been persistent, however, constantly pestering him about how he’s always loved that car, and there was no point in letting it just sit and rust in the driveway covered by a sheet (Kes had no intention of selling it due to its sentimental value, although he also had no intention of driving it or letting it be driven again.) Poe took immense care of the car once his father finally agreed to let him have it, and could often be found either underneath it in or working under the hood in his driveway over the summer. It ran alright, but it was still an old car, meaning that Poe often had good reason to work on it.

While the outside of the car was recognizable, the inside was even more so. The back seat was littered with sweatshirts and empty water bottles, along with paper bags from various fast food joints. It also often smelled like a combination of sweaty lacrosse gear and his dog Baby, a corgi whom he and others affectionately referred to as BB-8, as he had adopted her when he was eight years old, approximately two years before his mother died. Often times, after long days, Poe would go out for long drives with BB-8 in the passenger seat, her head out the window while she barked excitedly and ran from the passenger seat to the back seat to Poe’s lap. Everyone on the lacrosse team knew BB-8 well, Poe having brought her to many weekend practices, and BB-8 absolutely thrived on the attention, but when Poe wasn’t working on his car or on the lacrosse field, he was most likely strumming mindlessly at the strings of his guitar with BB-8 sleeping in his lap.

Poe threw his bag into the back seat of the car before clambering into the driver’s side, sticking his keys in the ignition as Jessika opened the passenger side door. “What were you thinking about during practice?” She asked as she pulled on her seatbelt and Poe pulled out of the parking space. Poe shrugged, leaning back comfortably in the seat as he made his way out of the school parking lot. “I don’t know. Stuff.”

“What kind of stuff got you so distracted?”

“Jess, I don’t know. I’m telling you, it’s just an off day.”

“Huh.” Jessika remarked doubtfully, crossing her arms and turning her attention out her window.

“What do you mean, ‘huh?’” He asked, glancing over at her out of the corner of his eye.

“I don’t know,” she said mockingly, smirking slightly as she looked back over at him. Poe chuckled lightly, shaking his head. “I’m just thinking, I guess.”

“You’re not one to do that.”

“That’s not very nice.”

Jessika snorted, then reached out to fumble with the radio. “It still doesn’t work,” Poe said, reaching over briefly to hit play on the cassette player. Jessika rolled her eyes. “I always forget how much you love crappy seventies music.”

“Crappy? This was my mom’s music- this was her car, if you don’t like my music you can walk home.”

Jessika held her palms up in mock surrender. “Sorry, sorry, I forget that, too.”

Poe just shook his head fondly, moving his hand to turn up the music as Jessika leaned against the window.

It took about fifteen minutes to take Jessika home, and another twenty to get back to Poe’s house. He yawned when he walked in, backpack on one shoulder and lacrosse bag on the other, and he heard the clicking of BB-8’s feet on the hardwood floor as he shut the front door. “Hey, buddy,” he said in a light voice, kneeling down as BB-8 approached him, scratching her behind the ears. She barked happily, flopping onto her back with her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Poe laughed as he rubbed her belly, then scratched beneath her chin. He stood back up, toeing his once white shoes off his feet before heading down the hall toward the kitchen.

His father was at the stove, glasses slipping off the end of his nose and the sleeves of his work shirt pushed up to his elbows. He glanced up from the pot he was stirring and smiled at Poe. “Hey, how was practice?”

Poe shrugged one shoulder, careful to not let his bag slip to the floor. “S’alright.”

“You hungry? I’m making your granddad’s chayote.”

Poe grinned, dropping his bags to the floor before pulling up a seat at the small kitchen table. “What’s the occasion? Mom and grandpa would always make chayote and rice when they had good news.”

“No occasion,” Kes said with a shrug, stirring slowly. “Had a craving. I went grocery shopping after I got back from work. I know it’s your favorite, too.”

Poe hummed softly, folding his hands on top of the table with another yawn. He heard BB-8 run through the hall and into the kitchen, skidding to a stop beside Poe’s chair. Poe reached down as she sat down, patting her on the head and rubbing her ear. Kes finished with the pot, and Poe stood to retrieve bowls. They ate in comfortable silence.

“You’re quiet today.”

“You think?”

“Usually, you’re talking a mile a minute. ‘Specially on Wednesdays. You always have something to say about the freshmen on the lacrosse team.”

Poe laughed, taking another bite from his bowl. “I don’t know. I’m real tired for some reason.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t stay up until one in the morning fussing with your guitar.”

“Did I wake you up?”

“No, you kept me up,” Kes laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he took a bite, then before took a drink from his glass of water. “What’s on your mind, buddy?”

Poe shrugged again, leaning back in his chair as he stirred the contents of his bowl lazily. “I don’t know.”

“Well, if you find out, let me know.”

“You got it.”

They finished eating, Poe before Kes, and Poe did the dishes, humming softly to himself as he did so. Kes clapped him on the shoulder once he was finished, then Poe left the kitchen, grabbing his bags and heading to his room.

The walls were decorated with lacrosse posters, as well as newspaper clippings of articles about games he’d played in, posters of his favorite bands, a handful of pictures of the lacrosse team. Propped against the wall was his guitar, a bruised and battered thing covered in stickers and scratches, but he would never replace it. He dropped his bags down by his closet and slipped off his jacket, then retrieved his music folder from his backpack before sitting on his bed. He heard BB-8 approaching, and began to pat a spot on the bed without even looking up. She ran in and jumped up, quickly settling down beside him and placing her head in his lap. He smiled and went to open the folder, then found it sticking together. His brow furrowed and he flipped the folder over, seeing a pen holding the two halves of the folder together. He swallowed. _Oh, yeah_. He removed the pen from the folder, twirling it between his fingers for a moment.

He didn’t know Finn well. He’d seen him around before, he was often in the library with that Rey girl; he rarely came to games, but he remembered seeing him at least once in the stands. He was quiet, they didn’t talk- in fact, Poe could not recall a time he saw Finn talking to someone other than Rey. He had glanced over at him a few times during Mr. Solo’s class, seeing him furiously writing something, and found himself wondering what he was writing. He also noticed how soft his sweater had looked- it was burgundy, wool, and he had been wearing it over a burnt orange button down. The colors complimented him well. Poe bit the pen cap for a moment before ultimately closing his music folder and tossing it onto his bedside table, along with the pen, and pulled his phone from his back pocket. He scrolled through his music briefly before finally deciding on a song, then lying back on the bed and resting the phone on his chest. BB-8 whined softly, moving to rest her head on Poe’s hip; Poe scratched underneath her collar gently. He sighed and closed his eyes.

He fell asleep with the lights still on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chayote is a type of Mexican squash typically used in Guatemalan summer dishes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hearing music in the early hours of the morning was not something Finn was used to."
> 
> Another slow chapter. Gotta build up the world and these AU characters and what not. Next chapter should be more exciting.

Finn yawned and leaned against his locker for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck before finally opening it. He had an earbud plugged into one ear and he tapped his foot to the music (John Coltrane today) as he found the textbook he had been searching for, then began to wander down the hall toward the library. He was early- he was usually early, living within walking distance of the school and not having his license made it easy for him to be early- and the halls were quiet. Rey was probably still asleep. He adjusted the strap of his bag, the sound of his footsteps echoing through the empty hall. He hummed along to the music, approaching the library, when he found himself stopping. He pulled the earbud from his ear and glanced around, swearing he heard something.

It was a guitar- it was faint and far away, but it was there. He raised an eyebrow and did a quick turn, trying to see any nearby rooms that might have teachers in them listening to music. He pursed his lips before pulling his phone from his pocket and pausing his music, then heading toward the direction of the sound.

Having transferred from First Order Private Academy two years ago, Finn was used to a very quiet school, the only sounds in the halls during passing time were those of feet. There was hardly any conversation, and the classrooms were even worse. The teachers would often give a lecture on Monday, then assign reading for Tuesday through Thursday, with an assessment on Friday. This cycle would repeat twice, and then there would be a test at the end of the third cycle. It was rigorous, and later proved too much for Finn’s liking. He could handle a meticulous learning regimen, sure, but the attitudes of the other students and of the faculty, even, did not help him learn. Finn tended to be very reserved during his years at First Order, and while being reserved was in his nature, the attitude he had acquired at First Order was one of someone who was not happy, someone who did not talk because he had nothing to say, but because he felt what he had to say was not important and would be ignored. His adoptive parents decided the summer of Finn’s sophomore year that seeing their son suffering in school, an environment that he often thrived in, was too much for them to handle, and transferred him to D’Qar, which was not only cheaper, being a public high school, but the environment seemed to be something he could perform better in overall. And they had been right- though Finn was still quiet and kept mostly to himself, he did find himself bumping into Rey within his first week, and though she had been a bit reluctant to start a friendship (and also a bit aggressive), the two of them became thick as thieves within in a matter of a week.

Needless to say, hearing music in the early hours of the morning was not something Finn was used to.

He soon found himself in the band hallway, the music much louder now. It was a relaxed tune, not accompanied by any vocals, and there was an underlying sound of someone keeping time with their foot. Finn slowed his footsteps as he came up on an open door. He pressed himself against the wall, just by the door, then slowly leaned over to peer into the small offset room.

To Finn’s surprise, it was Poe. He was sitting with his back against the wall, his profile nearly ruined by the fluorescent lighting. Most of his hair was pulled back into a small bun on the back of his head, and he was wearing what appeared to be the same torn jeans and dirtied tennis shoes as yesterday. Different shirt, though- this one was a dark green Henley with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves pushed up to the elbows. His varsity jacket lie forgotten on the floor next to his backpack. In his hands was a guitar, old and wooden, decorated with stickers and marred with scratches- though really, marred wasn't the best term to use, the imperfections in the guitar’s body were not a disfigurement, but were more along the lines of a display of great affection and character. One of the tuning pegs was made of a different metal than the others, glinting in silver while the others were a dull gold. Poe's fingers gently plucked each string and, looking a bit closer, Finn could see the callouses on his hands flash into view whenever he turned his hand just right. His eyes were nearly closed, dark eyelashes fanning out over his high cheekbones. Finn watched him, enamored for a moment at how at peace Poe looked. He wasn't surrounded by his lacrosse team, laughing obscenely loudly at a joke he most likely told, nor was he yelling plays from one end of the field to the other (Finn didn't think Poe realized how much his voice carried). Instead, he was calm and quiet, his shoulders and face were relaxed, his hands moving as though they had minds of their own. Finn felt something in his chest tighten and, before he realized he’d leaned over too far, his textbook had fallen from his arms and crashed into the floor. 

The music stopped abruptly, Poe's nails scratching the strings and making an unpleasant sound. Finn panicked, scrambling to grab his textbook as he heard Poe stand up from his chair. “Hello?” Poe called; Finn could hear him walking toward the door. He quickly scooped his textbook up into his arms and found himself stumbling down the hallway, sliding around the corner a little less than gracefully and pressing himself against the wall. He heard Poe enter the hallway then stop, presumably to look around, and Finn took a deep breath, slumping against the wall and closing his eyes briefly before making his way back toward the library.

He had spent about fifteen minutes in the library, nose buried in a book before he felt two hands clap on his shoulders. He startled briefly, turning around in his chair to see Rey, smirking at him before going around to his side and jumping up to sit on the table. She was wearing an oversized beige cardigan and a cropped white t-shirt with capri cut leggings, despite the relatively cold weather, and large black boots. Her hair was down and hanging in her face, and the cord of her earbuds was draped around her neck. “You’re here early,” she said, crossing her legs and swinging her purse into her lap. Finn shrugged, leaning back in his chair, book forgotten. “I could say the same thing to you.” Rey picked at her teeth with her nail nonchalantly. “Coach kept me late after my match last night. Said he wanted to practice more because we’re going up against FOA on Friday. Didn’t get much sleep.” She looked up at Finn, noticing the look in his eyes before tilting her head. “What’s wrong? You look upset.”

“I do?”

“Your eyes look funny.”

“I’m not… upset.”

Rey arched an eyebrow and reached out to flick Finn’s nose. “Hey! I’m telling the truth, I’m not upset.” Finn said, earning a chiding shush from the librarian as he reached up to rub his nose. “I just… saw Poe this morning.”

“Really? Tell me more,” Rey said almost sarcastically, giving him a too-wide grin and resting her chin in the palms of her hands. Finn rolled his eyes. “He was in the band room. Playing guitar. It was actually kind of creepy, now that I think about it- I don’t think he knew I was there.”

“Yeesh, take the guy on a date before you start stalking him.”

“I’m… not sure that’s how stalking works-”

“You know what I mean.” Rey said, playfully shoving Finn’s shoulder before sliding off the table and tossing her head toward the door. “Bell’s gonna ring soon.” Finn sighed and shut his book, getting to his feet and following Rey out of the library.

The day was rather unextraordinary, the first few classes of the day being just as boring as they usually were. Once they got to lunch, Rey seemed exhausted. The minute she found Finn out in the courtyard her head fell onto the table. Finn looked up from his notebook, a small smile coming to his face. “You alright, there?” Rey groaned loudly in lieu of a response. Finn chuckled softly, looking back down at his notebook.

“There was a _test_ in Solo’s class today and it _kicked_ my _ass_ ,” Rey finally said after a brief silence. “I tried to cheat but that stuck up, half-witted, son of a bitch caught me and now I have after school detention."

“Solo never gives out tests, I’m sure if you had just guessed on most of it, he wouldn’t have cared. He’s probably not even going to grade them.”

“Doesn’t change the fact I’m gonna be late to practice tonight and Luke is going to lecture me for an hour instead of helping me practice.”

Finn feigned concern and pouted, reaching over the table to pat Rey’s shoulder. “Maybe if you spent your time outside practice reading you wouldn’t be in this m- ow, ow, ow, let go!” Rey’s hand had shot up to grip Finn’s wrist, bending his hand backwards. He winced when she finally released him, then raised her head, leaning her head into her hand and glancing behind Finn. She rolled her eyes and dropped her head again, blindly fumbling for her purse. “Incoming.”

Finn glanced over his shoulder and blushed as the lacrosse team started to make their way through the courtyard and told the field, distracting himself with his notebook. He looked up again, thinking they were gone, only to see that Poe had departed from the rest of the group and was now making his way over to their table. He was wearing his jacket once again, and his hands were deep in the pockets. He had a slight smile on his face as Finn made eye contact with him, and Finn’s stomach abruptly tangled into knots. “Hey, buddy,” he said as he came up on their table, leaning up against the side of it and smiling down at Finn. Finn swallowed hard and smiled awkwardly. “Hey, Poe-” He cleared his throat, leaning forward on his elbows. “How’s it… how’s it going?”

“S’alright,” Poe said with a shrug, tilting his head. His expression made Finn want to melt.

“Say,” Poe continued. “Were you here real early today?” Rey lifted her head and looked between the two of them.

Finn blushed. “Um… no, I got here like fifteen minutes before first period,” he lied. “Why do you ask?”

Poe pursed his lips thoughtfully, then stood up off the table. “Could’ve sworn I saw someone,” he said softly to himself before shaking his head and patting Finn’s shoulder. “Hey, are you coming to the game on Friday? FOA’s coming here, it’s going to be the biggest match of the season.”

“Well, I…” Finn swallowed, glancing over at Rey, who glared at him then kicked his knee under the table. Finn winced, trying to cover the sound up by laughing awkwardly and rubbing the back of his neck. “Rey’s got a fencing match that Friday, too.”

Poe looked disappointed, but he smiled nonetheless. “Well, if you change your mind, Jess always throws a party after we have a game against FOA,” he said, shrugging before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pen- the pen Finn had given him a last week. Finn blushed softly as Poe took his notebook, opening it to the back page and scribbling out an address. His handwriting was big and curling, with looping Gs and Ys. Poe looked back up at Finn once he finished writing, then smiled again. “Hope I see you there,” he bit his lip softly then looked over at Rey, giving her a bright smile. “You should come, too, Rey. Jess’d love to see you.” And with that, he pocketed the pen once again then quickly ran to catch up with the rest of the lacrosse team.

Finn watched him leave, finding himself unable to breathe for a moment before he felt Rey kick his knee again. “Jeez, would you stop doing that?” He said, reaching under the table to rub at his knee and shaking his head. “You were gonna blow me off,” Rey said accusatively, leaning back and folding her arms across her chest. “If I hadn’t been here you would’ve said yes and you would’ve missed my biggest match of the season.” Finn scoffed, shaking his head and leaning forward on his elbows. “If you hadn’t have been here, I would’ve told him the same thing.”

Rey arched an eyebrow.

“Don’t give me that look.”

Rey sighed and shook her head resting her chin in her palm. “I mean, whatever. You want to go and try to get your rocks off with a guy you don’t even know that well, be my guest.”

“Who said anything about-” Finn groaned, rubbing at his face. “I’m coming to your match, Rey. I’ve never missed one.”

“Hm.” Rey said dismissively before reaching into her purse and pulling out a granola bar.

**///**

Poe got to Mr. Solo’s class late. Again. But again, he got lucky, and Mr. Solo was out of the room, and all the desks had been shifted to make small circles and clumps throughout the room while the students buzzed with chatter. Poe scanned the room briefly before spotting Finn in the back, his nose in his notebook and tapping the end of his pen on the desktop quickly. Poe grinned to himself then made his way back to him, jumping up to sit on the desk beside him. “Hey, how’s it going?” He asked, crossing his legs and turning to have a better angle while he talked to him. Finn looked up, quickly shutting his notebook and sliding it behind his elbow. “Sometimes I wonder if administration knows how much work actually gets done in here and why they haven’t fired Solo yet.” He joked, smiling crookedly. Poe found himself chuckling, his stomach flipping at the gentle expression Finn wore. He shrugged and sighed, leaning back on his hands. “Well, here’s hoping they don’t find out and hire a teacher who actually teaches.” Finn laughed once quietly and shook his head. Poe tilted his head, bit his lip, then uncrossed his legs and leaned forward on them. “You sure you weren’t here early this morning?”

Finn’s smile disappeared and was replaced with an expression of worry. “I…”

“I mean, if you’re not telling me you were because you think I’ll be mad, I won’t be.”

“Um…”

Poe smiled, cocking his head. “Well, if it was you, then I wouldn’t mind playing for you sometime if you want to hear it. I love an audience, and I’m sure my dad would be thrilled if I played for someone other than him.”

Finn laughed lightly, pausing for a moment before saying, “I think I’d like that.”

Poe smiled wider, then slid off the top of the desk to push it closer to Finn’s, then sat down in the chair and threw a glance over at his notebook. “I see you writing a lot,” he commented, folding his hands and leaning over his knees. “I know it can’t be just notes and essays, either.”

“Oh,” Finn said, looking over at the notebook himself before shrugging. “It’s… it’s really nothing, honestly.”

“Come on, it can’t be nothing.”

“Sure it can.”

Poe licked his lips then relaxed his shoulders. “I write music,” he admitted, looking down at his hands. “Or at least, I try to. I’ve tried my hand at writing my own songs, but I can never write good lyrics.”

“I’m sure that isn’t true.”

Poe laughed. “You’d be surprised. Actually…” Poe fumbled around in the pocket of his jacket for a moment, then pulled out a wadded up piece of paper. “Get a load of this.” He said, smirking as he uncrumpled the paper and slid it over to Finn’s desk. Finn picked up the paper carefully; Poe noticed how gentle he was with writing, lifting up the paper like he would a baby bird. He briefly read over the words on the page before snorting softly, covering his mouth and looking up at Poe. “I’m sorry.” Poe laughed, shrugging. “No, I get it. It’s real bad.”

“You rhymed ‘curse’ with ‘unearthed,’” Finn commented, smiling brightly.

“Alright, it’s called _slant_ rhyme, and sometimes it works better than straight up rhyming.”

Finn laughed again, looking back at the paper and shaking his head fondly. “You know, it isn’t all that bad, actually. I mean, I don’t see it becoming a Top 40 song any time soon, but it’s a start.”

“Gee, what a pal,” Poe joked, taking the paper back from and looking down at it with a sigh before crumpling it back up and stuffing it back into his pocket. “I don’t know, I just feel like… like I don’t have any inspiration, you know?” He said, leaning back in his chair for a moment and looked down at his lap. “Like I can put together a pretty kickass melody, no problem, but then if I try to put words to it, nothing sounds right.”

“I know what you mean,” Finn said quietly. Poe looked up at him, smiling softly. “Really?” Finn shrugged. “I mean… I can understand where you’re coming from, I guess.” Finn deflected, his shoulders seeming to tense up for a moment. Poe bit his lip, thinking for a moment before looking up and seeing Mr. Solo walk into the room, his hands on his hips and head shaking slightly. Poe smirked, then leaned over to whisper to Finn, “How much do you want to he doesn’t actually assign anything and just sits down and sighs?”

Poe had been right, and he and Finn continued to chat- mindless topics, really, but it filled the silence and Finn seemed genuinely interested in what he had to say, regardless of what he was saying. Poe had turned in his seat to face Finn, and Finn had turned as well, the position of their desks causing their knees to bump. They had spent the rest of the class just talking, joking, laughing, smiling, and they had barely registered the bell signalling the end of class ringing.

“So, get this- I’ve got Jess up front, Karé, Iolo and BB-8 crammed in the back, and we’re pulling up to this McDonald’s drive through. Jess is cracking up, smacking my arm, she is high out of her mind and trying to tell me what to say-”

“Wait, wait, weren’t you high, too?”

“Well, yeah, but Jess was hitting it really hard before we left the party, she was so far out. Anyway, the poor kid running the drive through that night, he was trying so hard to take our order but I just couldn’t stop laughing-”

“Hey, lovebirds,” a voice said, breaking the flow of their conversation. Mr. Solo was up at the front of the room, leaning on his desk with one hand on his hip. Finn blushed softly at the comment he’d said about them, but Poe seemed unfazed. Poe actually looked around the room, noticing that everyone else had already filed out. “Oh, did the bell ring?”

“Yeah, and I would very much like to go home,” Mr. Solo said sarcastically, tossing his head toward the door. Poe looked over at Finn, who started laughing again just a moment later, causing Poe to break out into a fit of giggles as well as he got to his feet and pushed his desk back into its place.

Finn had inadvertently followed Poe to his locker, which was decorated with pictures of the lacrosse team, a few pictures of a corgi (who Finn assumed to be BB-8, the dog Poe had mentioned earlier), lacrosse paraphernalia. He pulled his bag from the locker, a tattered and heavily patched up brown leather backpack and slung it over his shoulder. “So anyway,” he said as he shut his locker, Finn then making his way towards his own. “I finally catch my breath long enough to say something coherent, right? But get this. Instead of saying what I wanted to say, which was can we get four large fries and three double cheeseburgers, I say…”

He continued the story as Finn tucked away his books inside his messenger bag, continued into another story as they made their way outside and into the parking lot. “Iolo is nearing blackout drunk and he’s already tried to take off his shirt three times and I kept tellin’ him, ‘Buddy. It is thirty degrees out here-’ oh, we left,” Poe said, cutting himself off as he realized they were outside on the sidewalk. Finn laughed beside him, fussing with the strap of his bag. “Yeah, I didn’t want to stop you, though. You were having a lot of fun telling that story.”

Poe blushed softly and chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “Well, uh… thanks. I tend to ramble on, feel free to stop me next time.”

“Next time?”

Poe’s blush deepened. “I mean… yeah, next time. If you ever wanted to hang out or… or something.”

“You’d want to hang out with me?” Poe’s chest ached dully at the hopeful smile that came across Finn’s face. Poe smiled after a moment, his shoulders slumping down. “Yeah, I would,” he said, reaching over to pat Finn on the shoulder. Finn glanced down at his hand briefly before swallowing and taking a half step back. “I… really should get going,” he said, making a move to walk past Poe and down the sidewalk. Poe watched him walk a few feet before quickly catching up to him. “Wait, you walk? Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

“It really isn’t that far, I walk every day.”

“Well, then, it won’t be that far of a drive, then, will it?” Poe gave him a smirk, then pulled his keys from his pocket. Finn watched him spin the keys around on one finger before shaking his head and smiling reluctantly. “Fine, alright.” He said with a sigh, following a grinning Poe out into the parking lot.

Finn found the passenger seat to be a tight squeeze, considering the only people who sat up front were either BB-8 or Jess (sometimes Iolo or Karé, but they were both relatively small as well), and Finn had many inches on Jess, being the same height as Poe but bulkier. He awkwardly positioned himself in what had to be the only way he could fit himself in the seat, but still looked terribly uncomfortable. “Sorry, buddy,” Poe laughed as he got into the car, starting it up and strapping on his seatbelt. “I’ll make sure to adjust the seat next time.”

“Next time, huh?” Finn joked this time, fastening his own seatbelt with a soft laugh. Poe rolled his eyes fondly. “Well, if we’re going to hang out, then yes, next time.” The drive to Finn’s was a lot shorter than the one to Jess’s, which Poe was actually kind of disappointed about. A short drive meant he had less time to talk to Finn, and he tried to not let his disappointment show.

“I write poetry,” Finn said as Poe pulled up into his driveway.

“Hm?” Poe hummed, looking over at him.

“You… asked earlier what I write in my notebook. It’s poetry.”

“Really?” Poe asked. “I don’t mean to sound rude or anything, but you don’t really look like the poetry type.”

Finn laughed, shrugging. “I don’t know, it just… comes easily, I guess.”

Poe smiled, biting his lip for a moment before pulling his phone from the pocket of his jacket and holding it out to Finn. “Here, give me your number.”

“What for?” Finn asked with a chuckle, taking the phone anyway and opening up Poe’s contacts.

“Because I like talking to you and I’d like to talk to you more.” Poe said, really without thinking, and found himself blushing. Finn didn’t seem to take notice, though, and punched in a number quickly before handing the phone back. “I’m not big on texting, but I suppose I can make an exception.” Finn joked, unbuckling his seatbelt and reaching into the backseat blindly and grabbing his backpack. Poe examined the number with an expression someone might wear when examining a precious stone, or a new section of a fossil. He swallowed and looked up as Finn climbed out of the car. “Hey, wait,” he said, stretching over the console. Finn leaned against the car, one arm up on the roof and the other holding the door open. Poe smiled awkwardly. “I know you said that… Rey’s big match is on Friday, but… it would be really awesome if you came to the game. At least for a little while.”

Finn wet his lips quickly and looked down.

“I mean, I totally get it if you can’t make it, but… it’d be really cool to see you there.”

Finn chewed on his lower lip thoughtfully before smiling back at Poe. “I’ll try and make it.”

Poe grinned, nodding. “And if you can’t, then at least think about coming to the party. Jess’s parties are always ragers.”

Finn laughed and nodded before shutting the door and walking up to the front door of his house. Poe swallowed as he watched him walk away, then closed his eyes for a moment, leaning back in the seat before pulling out of the driveway.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being a lot longer than I wanted, so I couldn't get to the big party just yet. Also, sorry the formatting changed- an asterick means a continuation of a character's narrative, while a set of three slashes means the point of view has changed.

Every time Finn had opened up his notebook for the next few days, he'd always flipped it open from the back to see the address Poe had written in back at the beginning of the week. His words were still echoing in his head: “It'd be really cool to see you there.” Did he really mean that? What did he mean by it anyway? The longer Finn thought about it the more his head began to hurt. And yet, his finger always ended up trailing over the slight impression Poe’s writing had made in the pages of his notebook.

The two of them actually started talking fairly regularly within the next few days. Finn would often find his phone buzzing with a slew of texts from him usually during second period, and prior to becoming friends with Poe, he would never text in class, but now he would chance sideways glances to his phone and tap out short replies under the desk. Rey ended up getting detention again on Thursday, so that meant Poe walked with Finn to his locker, then to the parking lot, and eventually, to Poe’s car to drive him the short distance to his house. Finn ended up becoming so excited to talk to Poe that during sixth period his knee would bounce incessantly and he could hardly focus on his work or his poetry because he was thinking about the conversation he and Poe might end up having.

It didn’t take long for Rey to notice. When she came up on hers and Finn’s usual lunch table, she was surprised to find him on his phone rather than writing. “What are you doing?” She asked slowly as she sat down, setting her bag down on top of the table.

“Hm? Oh, nothing,” Finn said dismissively, smiling at her and flipping his phone onto its screen so that he could pay attention to Rey. Rey gave him a look she didn’t give him often- her nose wrinkled up, her brow furrowed, her little mouth curled downward. She snapped across the table, taking Finn’s phone and scrolling through his texts as Finn struggled to reach across the table and take it back. Her puzzled and somewhat angry expression faded into something more resigned as she looked back up at Finn. “So, you and Poe, huh?” She asked softly, setting the phone onto the tabletop again. Finn reached out to grab it, then promptly slid it into his pocket. “What do you mean, ‘me and Poe?’”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time together, right? He gives you rides home even though you don’t need them? You leave with him instead of me?”

“Rey, it isn’t like that-”

“You never text me,” she said. Finn fell silently. “Not to this extent, or anything. I mean, I’m not big on texting, sure, but I thought you weren’t either.” Rey folded her arms tightly and looked down.

“Rey, I’m… I’m sorry if I’ve been spending less time with you, but there’s…” He laughed in spite of himself. “There’s nothing wrong with being friends with more than one person.”

“Yeah. Friends.” Rey muttered, reaching into her bag and fumbling for a minute.

“Wait, what do you mean-”

“Hey, Finn!”

Finn turned in his seat, seeing Poe grinning and walking briskly toward them. Rey rolled her eyes and found what she had been looking for- her phone, a cup of yogurt and a plastic spoon. Poe slid to a stop to sit beside Finn, bumping shoulders with him. “Rey, how’s it going?” He asked, throwing his award winning smile to Rey, who was less than impressed. She gave him a sarcastic, tight smile before getting to her feet, muttering something about going to the restroom. She walked away quickly, hands stuffed into the pockets of her sweater, her head down. Poe’s smile faded, and he turned back to Finn. “Does she… not like me?” He asked, seeming genuinely concerned. Finn sighed, rubbing at one eye with the heel of his hand. “It isn’t that she doesn’t like you, she just…” He shook his head again and turned to face Poe. “She just thinks that I’m spending a lot of time with you.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I don’t know, I think she’s just worried I’ll end up spending more time with you than I do her. It’s silly.”

Poe pursed his lips briefly and nodded before smiling again, patting Finn’s shoulder. “I know how that goes,” he said squeezing Finn’s shoulder briefly before his hands went back to the pockets of his jacket. “Anyway, I just wanted to remind you that my invite to Jess’s party on Friday still stands.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to go- Rey’s match is that day, and neither of us are really the partying type…”

“You don’t have to be the ‘partying type,’ I’ll be there, you can just stick with me and I’ll keep you out of trouble.”

Finn snorted, shaking his head. “I’ll try and convince her that it’s a good idea. It all really depends on how she does in her match. FOA’s fencing team is killer.”

Poe scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, Kyle Ron or whatever he’s calling himself now is on the team. He played on FOA’s lacrosse team for like… a semester then quit because he sucked, probably. And he fights dirty when he doesn’t get what he wants.”

“I think it’s Kylo Ren; yeah, he and Rey have a past with fencing. She always has the upper hand for a while then he pulls something cheap and no one ever seems to notice.”

Poe shook his head, then swung his legs over the bench and got back to his feet as he noticed Jessika, Karé and Iolo coming out into the courtyard. “Well, wish her luck from me, we’re going to get a few practice rounds in.” To Finn’s surprise, he saw Jessika grin and come up behind Poe and reach up to grab his shoulders, then vaulted herself up onto his back, winding her long legs around his waist and her arms around his neck with a laugh. “Hey, where’s Rey?” She asked, moving her head to look at Poe, who was trying to stop himself from laughing. Finn cracked a slight smile, glancing over as he saw Rey coming back outside. Jessika laughed again, then slid off of Poe’s back to run over to Rey, who was wearing a shell shocked expression. Poe just laughed again and shook his head before playfully punching Finn’s shoulder. “See you in history, buddy.”

Finn watched as he walked away, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth before glancing over at Rey, who was still talking to Jessika. He couldn’t make out what they were discussing, but whatever it was was making Rey smile like Finn had never seen before. Jessika reached out and grabbed her forearm, squeezing tightly, before ultimately waving goodbye to run and catch up with Poe, Karé and Iolo. Finn noticed Rey’s hand go up to touch the spot Jessika had grabbed then smile softly before walking over to return to the table. Finn arched an eyebrow at her knowingly, smirking. “So, you and Jessika, huh?” He said, repeating what Rey had said earlier with a slight laugh. Rey’s cheeks reddened and she kicked at Finn’s knee under the table.

Friday came fairly quickly. The school was buzzing with excitement, everyone dressed in school t-shirts and orange and white. Some were even wearing handmade shirts that with vaguely insulting things toward First Order Academy, and ones with pictures of the lacrosse team emblazoned across the chest (Finn saw a few shirts that just had a picture of Poe- he was dressed in uniform but with no helmet, his curly hair stuck to his skin with sweat. The picture was kind of out of focus, and Poe was looking away from the camera, but his wide smile was unmistakably clear. Finn wondered briefly where those wearing that shirt even found that picture.) Along with a handful of other students, Rey and Finn were the only ones not dressed for the occasion- Rey was wearing sweatpants and a faded D’Qar Fencing t-shirt with one of Finn’s cardigans, and Finn didn't own any school related clothes, he did own a striped burnt orange and dark blue sweater, which somewhat matched the school’s color scheme, not that Finn really cared much. Poe didn't stop talk to Finn and Rey at lunch, but he did break off from the rest of the team for a moment to give Finn and Rey a bright smile and squeeze Finn’s shoulders. Finn blushed and smiled lightly; Rey rolled her eyes.

When Finn got to Mr. Solo’s class at the end of the day, he was surprised to see that Poe had beaten him to the room. He was sitting in the back of the room, smiling at something on his phone screen. He was also surprised to see him without his varsity jacket, which had been replaced by his lacrosse jersey, grass stained white and dusty orange standing stark against his warm brown skin. Finn found his face warming up slightly but he smiled, then quickly made his way to the back of the room. Poe looked up as Finn sat down and his face broke out into a wide grin, and he turned to face Finn, pocketing his phone. “Hey, buddy,” he said, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. “How’s it going?”

“I always forget how crazy the day of an FOA match is,” Finn said, adjusting the strap of his bag to rest the bag in his lap. Poe laughed, his shoulders bouncing slightly. "Yeah, I feel like some people get too excited, honestly. But I love the energy- everyone getting so excited over one thing even though most of them would never talk otherwise.”

“Kind of like a cult?”

“Well, I wasn’t trying to make it sound like that, but now that you mention it…”

They laughed, Finn’s gentle and soft as his head turned down to his lap, Poe’s hearty and loud as his head fell back. “So, am I going to see you tonight?” Poe asked once he caught his breath, looking back at Finn. Finn’s smile faded slightly and his shoulders sank. “Yeah, I… I honestly would go, but I promised Rey, you know? I’ve never missed one of her matches, and she’s up against Kylo Ren and she would be… well, she wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t show up.”

Poe looked disappointed, but he smiled regardless and shook his head. “Well, I understand where you’re coming from. You’re probably better off there anyway.” He paused for a moment, eyes falling before looking back up. “I’m going to miss you,” he said softly, offering Finn a sad smile. Finn’s eyes widened slightly. “Really?” Poe simply shrugged before sitting up and smiling again. “Well, you can still come to the party, right?”

“I’ll try to convince Rey to come, yeah,” Finn collected himself, nodding. Poe nodded back, reaching out to pat Finn’s arm. “Alright, well, at least I’ll get to see you.” Finn bit his lip for a moment before Poe launched into another story, their conversation filling the rest of the class period. Once the final bell rang, it seemed as though the entire room and the hallway erupted with noise. Poe laughed as he stood up from his seat, Finn following suit.

*****

“Hey, you’re here!” Rey said as she saw Finn make his way into the gymnasium, dressed in her fencing gear, her mask tucked under her arm and her epée in her right hand. Her hair was pulled back into a braid that could easily be tucked into her helmet, and she was wearing a bright smile. Finn smiled back at her, reaching over to lightly punch her shoulder. “Of course, I am. Where else could I be?” Rey’s nose wrinkled and she shook her head. “Hey,” Finn began, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his khakis. “Would you be interested in… going to a party after the match?”

“A party?” Rey asked, popping one hip and tilting her head. “Is it Jessika’s?”

“Yeah, actually, how-”

“She told me at lunch the other day. Did Poe ask you to go?”

“I… yeah, he did, but I figured-”

Rey was about to respond when she heard something that Finn missed. She looked over her shoulder and saw her coach, an older man with medium length greying hair and a beard, attempting to wave her over, one eyebrow arched. Rey groaned, her shoulders sinking before nodding toward the bleachers. “I’ve got to go- I’ll think about it, alright?” She returned Finn’s punch from earlier- though, Rey was unaware of her own strength, and her hit caused Finn to stumble slightly before she turned on her heel to run toward the coach. Finn sighed and began to make his way toward the bleachers, when he heard someone clear his throat. “If it isn’t the traitor,” a lilting voice said distantly. Finn turned, brow furrowed, and saw Ben Solo- or rather, Kylo Ren, for whatever reason- arms folded across his chest and the grip of his epée in his hand, the blade pointing downward toward the floor. His long dark hair was pushed back behind his ears, and there was a particular angry looking pimple high on his cheek. His eyes bore a constant look of arrogance, his eyelids drooping slightly and his thick eyebrows drawn upward. Finn rolled his eyes, having had several uncomfortable interactions with the other during his time at First Order Academy. “What are- traitor? I transferred almost three years ago, Ben.”

Kylo Ren’s pale face flushed with anger, and he took a step up to Finn- he wasn’t much taller than him, but for some reason he seemed to tower over him- prodding his chest with one angry finger. “It’s Kylo Ren, and you know that, defective.” He hissed, nose wrinkling upward before he sighed, stepping back and running a hand over his hair. “I hear your little girlfriend’s been practicing. Too bad she’s still going to lose to me again.”

“That’s only because you cheat!”

Kylo Ren laughed, rolling his eyes. “If you want to call Rey not having a competent bone in her body me cheating, be my guest.”

This time Finn stepped up to Kylo Ren, hands balled into fists. “Rey is better than you and you know it.”

“Well, we’ll see, then, won’t we?”

**///**

“Karé, you’re goalie. Iolo, you’ll take the outsides. Freshmen, cover Iolo and don’t let them break the line. Jess, you’re on Hux. I’ll take Phasma. She’s the heaviest hitter and I can handle the most damage.”

“What are you trying to say, Dameron? Don’t think I can handle Black Dahlia?” Jessika asked, nudging Poe’s hip with her own in the huddle. Poe smirked and rolled his eyes. “Testor, if I pair you up with Phasma, you’re definitely going to get benched, and I’d much rather have you on the field than shouting profanities at the other team from the sidelines.”

“Fair enough.”

“Alright, guys, this is it. This is the biggest game of the season. Everyone in those bleachers is here to see us kick some FOA ass. I practiced you all to death, we know all their tricks, now why don’t we give these people what they want?”

The huddle broke so everyone could stick their hands in the center, Poe’s hand on the bottom. He counted them off, hands bouncing before throwing them up into the air, not with a school chant but with just a loud, collective yell. The crowd noticed their huddle had ceased and joined in the chaos as D’Qar took the field. Poe felt Jessika’s hand clap down on his shoulder as she passed him to her spot, and Poe nodded to her as he spotted number twenty-four on FOA’s side- Phasma. Phasma was a taller girl, much taller than Poe, with broad shoulders and a sharp face. Her hair, when she did not have her helmet on, was long and blonde, but often looked like she had just stepped off the field. Her grey eyes were always crowded with dark and smudged makeup, and her mouth was always drawn down into an angry scowl. Poe could see her smirk behind her face mask once he stepped in front of her. “Poe Dameron,” she said, head tilting slightly as her grip on her stick tightened. “Handsome as ever.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere.”

“I see you’ve a lot of freshmen on the team now, that’s so sweet.”

“They play harder than I've ever seen you play.”

“They’re about to get eaten alive.”

“We’ll see about that.”

**///**

“Point: D’Qar.”

The way Rey moved on the mat reminded Finn of truly great poetry. She was fluid, cool and collected, right where she belonged in the world. Finn couldn’t see her face through the mask on her helmet, but he could tell that after she scored on Kylo Ren she was smiling. Kylo Ren, on the other hand, was fueled by rage. It was obvious in his motions, how when Rey came close to scoring his thrusts became more erratic, how the hand behind his back balled into a tight fist, how his footsteps were heavy and loud. The two of them retreated to their respective sides of the mat once again, and Finn carefully pulled his phone from his pocket to check the time. Poe’s lacrosse game was about fifteen minutes in. He looked up as he heard the referee’s whistle blow, and Kylo Ren advanced toward Rey with an audible snarl.

**///**

“Time, time!” Poe called loudly over the crowd. The referee acknowledged this and whistled, announcing a timeout for D’Qar. As Poe waved his team off the field, he heard Phasma and Hux laughing behind him. He rolled his eyes as they got to the sideline, tearing his helmet off his head to look up at the scoreboard. They were down by one goal, they always seemed to be down by one goal. There was a large purpling bruise on the side of Poe’s calf from having the ball thrown harshly at him when he wasn’t paying attention, and his throat was scratchy and dry. “Hey, Poe, remember when you said we were going to kick their asses?” Iolo said, voice muffled from his helmet as he picked up his water bottle and squeezed a stream through his mask.

“We’re not far behind, not yet. It’s not even halftime yet. Don’t sass me.”

“Arana’s right, Dameron, you’re off your game,” Jessika panted once she got to the sideline, throwing her stick to the ground and placing her hands on her hips. Poe sighed heavily, his eyes scanning the crowd briefly before he shook his head. “Listen, guys. I shouldn’t be the driving force of the team. If I’m not playing my best, that means you should be playing ten times better. Pick up the slack, guys, come on.”

“I say we do Stiletto for the next play. It always works.” Karé suggested, removing her helmet to run her fingers through her hair.

“They know Stiletto by heart now, Karé, we don’t want to give them the upper hand.” Poe said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

“They came up with new plays since we last played them, we practiced everything they used to do and now we’re paying for it.” Iolo said as he threw down his water bottle.

Poe shook his head and sighed, picking up his water bottle to take a long drink. “Alright, next play, we’ll do Dagger, alright? Iolo, you comfortable running it?”

“Long as you’re comfortable taking goal.”

“You damn well know I’m comfortable.”

“Don’t they know Dagger, too?” Jessika asked as she bent over to pick up her stick.

“They do, but we don’t run it as often as Stiletto. We’ll try and get through to half time and I’ll try and think of something. Don’t worry about getting the upper hand just yet, worry about tying the game.”

The referee blew his whistle once again, signalling the end of the timeout.

**///**

“Point: First Order Academy.”

Rey was getting frustrated, Finn could tell. Kylo Ren was up by three points, and all of his dirty tricks (like getting behind Rey to sweep her knee and send her to the ground, or grabbing her by the arm in order to stop her own thrusts) were going unnoticed by the referees. Finn watched as her coach called her off to the side, muttering something to her that she appeared to not want to hear. She nodded reluctantly after a moment and went back to the mat. Finn had pulled his notebook from his bag and was attempting to write something brief, but his mind kept wandering back to how Poe’s game might be going. He was brought back to the match when he heard Rey shout out- she was down on her back once again with the tip of Kylo Ren’s epée in her chest. Though the referee had called point, Rey got to her feet then struck out at Kylo Ren again, despite the sound of both the ref and Rey’s coach yelling for her to stop.

**///**

“And, that’s halftime, folks- First Order Academy up by two on D’Qar.”

The First Order crowd’s cheers were nearly silenced by the boos coming from D’Qar’s side. The clock had reset to fifteen minutes, and Poe met the rest of his team at the bench. “I can’t believe this,” he heard Iolo mutter, water bottle clenched tightly in his hands, his gloves and mask on the bench beside him and his stick at his feet. The rest of the team didn’t have to say anything to make their disappointment known, it was clearly visible on their faces. Poe sighed as he pulled off his own helmet and gloves, running his hands through his sweat slick hair. “Okay, guys, I know things look shitty right now-”

“Are you trying to give us a motivational speech, chief?” Karé asked as she twisted her hair into a loose bun. “Because I don’t think we can bare to hear it right now.”

“It’s all I got, Karé, let me have this.”

Karé shrugged and sat down on the bench beside Jessika, who was drinking her water with an angry look in her eye. Poe sighed again, dropping his stick to the ground as he put his hands on his hips. “Things are shitty right now. I know it, you know it, the crowd knows it. I’m sorry I haven’t been on my game- as a captain, I should be working even harder than the rest of you not just to win, but to motivate you to want to win, and I haven’t been doing that. But I will say this,” He kneeled down in front of the bench, arching an eyebrow and smirking. “They’re kicking our asses right now, but I’ve got a plan for the next half that I feel could bring us back.” Everyone sat up and took notice after Poe said this, and all leaned forward toward him.

“Playing goalie in Iolo’s place let me get a good look at their team. Phasma is playing a lot harder than she usually does, and that’s because her lackies zeros and ninety-nine are playing like they’ve never held a lacrosse stick in their lives. Hux is off, too- he thinks he’s playing hard but he’s just playing fast. Our original plan was to take out Phasma and Hux, but we’ve got a new plan. We need to take out zeros and ninety-nine. We distract them enough when they’re in possession, and Phasma will be working too hard on picking up their slack to notice us scoring up on them.”

“What about Hux?” Jessika asked, setting her water bottle on the ground.

“Hux is easy, Testor. You just have to slow him down. If they play dirty, we can play dirty right back.”

Jessika’s mouth turned up into a devious smirk. “Now you’re speaking my language.”

Poe smirked back. “If we’re going to play rough, we have to be smart about it. If we’re too obvious, we’re going to get flagged and we’ll never win. We’re going to run Rapier as our next play.”

Iolo sputtered. “ _Rapier_? Rapier was what put Muran out of commission last year in a First Order game, and none of the freshmen know it.”

“Yeah, Poe, that seems a little risky.” Karé said, folding her arms across her chest and shifting her weight awkwardly.

“Rapier is a dangerous move, I’m aware, but it’s what won us our championship against FOA last year.”

“If that’s what won us the championship, don’t you think that they would’ve practiced working against it?”

“They’ll recognize it, but they won’t be able to stop it with our freshmen running Stiletto.”

Iolo laughed incredulously, shaking his head. “How do you expect us to run two plays at once and have it work?”

“Easy, you’ll be in the goal with three freshmen defenders, Karé’ll be in the middle with the last two, and me and Testor will attack. Iolo, you’ll defend just like you usually do. Karé, you comfortable with running Stiletto to back me and Testor up?”

“You got it, chief.”

“Testor, you and me are running Rapier for this quarter. If my plan works, which they usually do, let’s face it, then we’ll do the same thing for the last quarter, but with the rookies and Karé running Dagger instead. If it doesn’t work, we’ll run Starfighter.”

“Last time we ran Starfighter we got our asses handed to us,” Jessika reminded, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

“Yeah, but we’ve never played it with FOA, they won’t see it coming. If we do something they’ve never seen before, then we can keep them from scoring on us again. We might not win with Starfighter, but we can push FOA back and keep them from completely obliterating us.”

The rest of the team was quiet for a moment before Jessika stood up from the desk and stuck out her hand, smirking up at Poe. “I’m with you, Dameron.” Karé mirrored Jessika’s motion, setting her hand on top of Jessika’s. “Whatever works, chief.” A few freshmen followed in, creating a circle with one spot empty and Iolo still on the bench. Poe looked over at him, offering him a smile. “Come on, buddy, we can’t do this without you.” Iolo sighed, his tongue prodding his cheek before he got to his feet and took his place in the circle, reluctantly placing his hand in the center. Poe grinned, nodding at his team before sliding his hand at the bottom of the pile, underneath Jessika’s. “Now, who’s ready to kick some First Order ass?”

///

“Game point: D’Qar.”

Rey punched at the air triumphantly as the crowd stood and applauded, Finn included. Rey pulled her helmet off her head, her hair coming loose from its braid and falling into her face as she ran to the wall separating the spectators from the mat, finding Finn. “That was a close one,” Finn laughed, reaching over the wall to pull Rey into a tight hug. She laughed, punching his back lightly and shaking her head. “If the ref wasn’t blind it would’ve been over a while ago.” She responded once she pulled back, placing her hands on her hips with a content sigh. “Do you know how much time’s left in the lacrosse game?” She asked, cocking her head. Finn’s brow furrowed. “Why do you ask?”

“Because if you’ve got time, you can go and catch the end of the game, and then I’ll meet you at Jess’s party.”

Finn’s eyes widened slightly. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I could go for some celebration right now.” Rey was smiling broadly, and Finn couldn’t help but to mirror her expression. “Besides,” she continued. “I’m sure there’s someone else who would be really excited to see you right about now.”

“Rey!”

Rey looked over her shoulder, Finn looking past her, to see Kylo Ren storming toward her, hands in tight fists at his sides and his lips pulled back into a snarl. “That match wasn’t fair and you know it.” He said lowly once he reached the two of them, prodding her chest with one bony finger. Finn reached over the wall to shove at his shoulders. “Back off, Ben, the only unfair part of the match was your dirty tricks.”

“It’s _Kylo Ren_ , and I wasn’t talking to you, traitor,” Kylo Ren hissed before turning his attention back to Rey, who seemed the least bit worried, her hands on her hips with one eyebrow raised. “What do you want, asshole?”

“What I want is a rematch.”

Rey couldn’t help but laugh, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. “A rematch? Really? You want to get your ass handed to you again?”

“A rematch with no coaches, no refs. Next Friday in the Academy gym.”

“Gee, Kylo Ren, if you wanted to get me alone so bad, you could’ve just asked me out on a date like a normal person.”

Kylo Ren sputtered, shaking his head as his face flushed. “If I desired a romantic relationship with the likes of you, you would know it.”

“I’m so glad I don’t know it, because I’d probably vomit.”

“Next Friday. Three o’clock. Do you accept?”

Finn looked between the two of them, Rey’s collected expression about to break into something fierce. She ultimately reached out to grip Kylo Ren’s extended hand in an angry handshake. “See you there, pal.” She said through clenched teeth.

*****

When Finn departed the gymnasium, he found the parking lot of the school absolutely packed. This wasn’t a surprise, but it also made it difficult for him to cross from the school to the lacrosse field, having to weave in between parked cars of those attending the lacrosse game and the cars leaving the lot because the fencing match had ended. Once he made it to the field, he quickly pulled his wallet from his bag to pay the two dollar entrance fee, then made his way toward the bleachers. There were two minutes left in the game, with D’Qar up by one point on FOA, and the stands were packed. Finn’s shoulders slumped slightly as he tried to find somewhere, anywhere, but found his best bet was to stay out of the bleachers and lean up against the fencing surrounding the field. His eyes scanned over the players until he found D’Qar’s number eighty-five rushing up on FOA’s number twenty-four, the ball in the net of his stick. Finn gripped the railing of the fence, recognizing Poe almost instantaneously as the clock dwindled down into seconds. He heard Poe yell with anguish as he threw the ball from his stick, falling backwards as number twenty-four shouldered him into the ground-

“And that’s the game- First Order Academy, seven… D’Qar, nine!”

Finn threw his hands up with a loud cheer, in chorus with the rest of the crowd. Poe got to his feet and threw his stick to the ground, pulling off his helmet and shouting out in victory, both his hands above his head. The rest of his team ran up to him to celebrate, but Poe’s eyes had looked up into the crowd briefly, and then had found Finn. His smile grew almost too big for his face, and he patted one of his teammates on the shoulder distractedly before he ran off the field toward Finn. Once he reached the fence, he nearly jumped over it to pull Finn into a hug, laughing loudly against his ear. “I thought you weren’t going to make it!” He said, holding Finn tightly. Finn laughed, returning the hug as best he could despite all of Poe’s padding and uniform being in the way. “I had a little time to kill.”

“Did you see that goal? That was fucking fantastic, you should’ve seen us at the beginning of the game…” Finn trailed off as he released Finn, arms falling to his sides as he caught his breath before smiling. “How’d Rey’s match go?” He asked, hands going to his hips.

“Oh, she kicked ass.”

“No surprise there.”

“Kylo Ren wasn’t having it, though.”

“Again, no surprise.”

They shared a brief moment of eye contact, just smiling at each other before Poe reached out to squeeze Finn’s shoulder. “So, you need a ride to Jess’s party or what?”


	4. Chapter 4

Finn waited in the empty hallway outside the locker rooms while Poe put away equipment and freshened up (“I’m telling you, my car smells bad enough without me being all sweaty after a game, I won’t subject you to that kind of torture, I refuse,” he’d told Finn with a laugh once they’d gotten back inside). He sat with his back up against the wall, across from the doors to the locker room, his notebook in his lap. He revisited his poem about Rey from the fencing match, tried to continue it, but soon found himself writing in great detail about the color of Poe’s eyes in the late afternoon sunlight. When Poe came back out of the locker room about twenty minutes later, he was freshly showered with his hair wet and slicked back away from his face, wearing a pair of torn up jeans and a faded white t-shirt. His jacket was slung over his shoulder and his focus was on his phone screen, one hip cocked and one eyebrow raised. Finn found himself staring, mouth slightly open, but he quickly regained his composure and shut his notebook before getting to his feet. Poe looked over at him with a smile and pocketed his phone before approaching him, giving him a friendly punch to the shoulder. “Hey buddy, ready to go?”

The two walked out together, and Finn was surprised to see someone waiting beside Poe’s car already. It was Jessika, who had changed from her uniform into a pair of skintight black jeans and an oversized flannel over a grey shirt with worn tennis shoes on her feet. Her hair was damp and pulled back into a ponytail, she had very light makeup on, and was paying attention to something on her phone screen and smiling lightly. “Testor, do I have to give you a ride to your own party?” Poe laughed, holding his arms out and tilting his head. Jessika startled at Poe’s greeting before laughing and shaking her head, sticking her phone into her back pocket. “It’s not my fault my car is a piece of shit, alright?” She said, placing her hands on her hips.

“Well I hope you don’t mind sitting in the back, then,” Poe chuckled, pulling his keys from his pocket and twirling them around his finger. “And you can’t complain about my music this time.” Jessika feigned a pout and crossed her arms, rocking from foot to foot. Poe laughed, tongue in cheek as he went to unlock the car and Jessika pushed past him to walk up to Finn. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced, I’m Jess,” she said with a charming smile, extending her hand to Finn. Finn smiled back, shaking her hand awkwardly. “Finn.”

“You’re Rey’s friend, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Does she ever… you know, talk about me or anything?”

Finn was taken aback. “I…”

“Leave him alone, Testor, your sweet little crush is going to be at your party.”

Finn expected Jessika to become embarrassed, but she just laughed off the comment and shrugged as she pushed past Poe to clamber into the backseat. He couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth as he walked around the car to get into the passenger seat, which had since been moved back to adjust to his size- something small that Poe probably had not even thought about when he moved the seat, but something that had caught Finn off guard and made his stomach twist.

The car ride was filled with laughter, and although Finn’s laugh accompanied both Jessika’s and Poe’s, he did not add much else to the conversation. First, the conversation pertained mostly to lacrosse (“I swear I thought the ref was going to bench you after you nearly cracked open Hux’s helmet with your stick,” Poe had laughed breathlessly, smacking the steering wheel with a flat palm and looking at Jessika through the rearview mirror, who was sprawled out in the backseat with the back of her head leaned against the window and her phone on her knee. “I was pissed Phasma didn’t get flagged because she was about ready to kick the shit out of you!”) then trailed into something about another party Jessika had thrown a while back (“Remember when we got Iolo hammered last year?” Jessika had brought up, leaning between the drivers’ and passengers’ seats to talk to Poe more directly. The memory had brought up a loud, bubbling laugh from Poe’s chest and he shook his head fondly. “And he kept trying to kiss Karé and she almost broke his nose and he thought he was going to bleed to death? How could I forget?”) Though Finn was not necessarily an active part of the conversation, he had no problem with it, he really enjoyed listening to the two of them talk with nothing to talk about, similar to the way he and Poe talked in Mr. Solo’s class. They pulled up on Jessika’s house quickly, finding there were already two cars in the driveway. Jessika checked her phone as Poe switched the car off and rolled her eyes. “Shit, we’ve still got some time to kill before people start to actually show up,” she muttered before leaning up to smack Poe’s shoulder. “Come on, Dameron, I’m starting to cramp up back here.”

“Testor, has anyone ever told you that you're ungrateful?” Poe said, one hand going over his chest as he pushed open his door, Finn following his lead and climbing out of his side.

“You won't be saying that once you're blackout drunk, now will you, smart guy?” Jessika said once she was out of the car, delivering a punch to Poe's shoulder. “So, you drink a lot at these parties?” Finn asked curiously as he found his way to Poe's side. Poe shrugged, giving him a smile. “Sometimes. I didn't plan on drinking that much tonight, though.”

The doors of one car swung open to reveal Karé, who was wearing a pair of torn up denim shorts over a pair of black leggings and a slim fitting sweatshirt, and Iolo, who was still in his jersey. “Jess, baby!” Karé announced once she saw the shorter girl, holding her arms out as she kicked her door closed. “I know you said your party doesn't actually start until a half hour from now, but could you do a girl a favor and let her pre-game?”

“You read my mind, Kun,” Jessika laughed, approaching her and throwing an arm around her shoulders with a laugh. Her eyes fell on the other car, which was parked just outside the driveway on the street. She squinted, tilting her head before nudging Karé’s side with her elbow. “You know who that is?”

“That looks like Rey’s car,” Finn said, waving a hand toward it. The door creaked open and sure enough, Rey climbed out, wearing the same outfit she’d had on earlier, only with her hair down falling in waves over her shoulders. She saw Finn and waved back, smiling and sliding her hands into the pockets of the cardigan she was wearing. Finn glanced over to see Jessika’s arm slip off of Karé’s shoulders and a smile break out across her face as she ran to go meet Rey across the driveway. Finn heard Poe chuckle, and looking over at him he saw him shake his head fondly. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Hey lovebirds, you can make out later! I’m pretty sure Karé wanted a drink!” Finn could only just about make out the features of Rey’s face through the low light, but he could see that her eyes had widened slightly and she was biting down on her lip. Jessika laughed, throwing her arm around Rey’s shoulders as she began to lead her up to the house. “Pava always delivers, Dameron, you know that,” she said as she walked past the two of them, laughing and pulling Rey closer to her side. Finn licked his lips quickly and looked up at Poe briefly before following the crowd up to the house.

The inside of Jessika’s house was warm and inviting. There were portraits of the Pava family decorating the walls beside the front doors, as well as pictures of Jessika in all her lacrosse regalia, sporting bruised knees, crooked teeth, and team trophies. Finn watched as everyone toed off their shoes and followed their actions, quickly finding Poe's side once again. “All the usual rules apply, folks,” he heard Jessika yell from another room. Finn, along with Iolo and Rey, followed Poe through a door near the entrance to the kitchen, which led to a flight of stairs. Reaching the landing at their base, Finn found himself in a large and spacious basement, decorated with lacrosse trophies, model airplanes, and plush looking furniture. The stairs began to creak once again as Finn found a seat beside Poe on one of the couches, and he could've sworn that Poe shifted to sit closer to him. Jessika and Karé appeared at the base of the stairs, Jessika with two bottles of beer in each hand and Karé with an open one at her lips. “Mom’s on a business trip in Japan, Dad knew we’d be having a party and is off to dinner and a movie with a friend. You throw up, you do it in a toilet or a sink- looking at you Arana. You break something or punch a hole in the wall, you go home. I’m not wasting another paycheck on drywall.” Jessika began to walk around the room, distributing bottles. When she reached Finn and Rey, Rey held up a hand and smiled awkwardly. “Designated driver,” she said, shrugging before folding her arms across her chest. Jessika blushed softly but smiled. “What about you, Finn? Care to partake?” She joked, holding a bottle out to him. Finn glanced over at Poe, who was smirking around his bottle of beer and shrugged as he tossed back a drink. “I… think I’m alright.”

Jessika shrugged, still smiling as she looked back at Rey. “I can get you some water, then,” she said with a wink before heading toward the stairs again. “Kun, put on some music! I don't want it to be quiet when everyone starts showing up!” She said, voice growing distant as she headed up the stairs. 

“Sure thing, boss,” Karé mumbled, smirking as she took a drink and made her way across the room to a large stereo.

“Everyone?” Finn asked, leaning forward on his knees and folding his hands. Poe shrugged, crossing his legs and looking over at him as he took another drink. “Yeah, Jess always advertises her big FOA party really loudly during lunch. Her mom’s a big wig CEO and her dad’s a lawyer, so they're never around, which means her place is always the one to go to for a party.”

“So how many people usually come to these things?”

“I've never taken the time to count, but it gets pretty packed- oh, for fuck’s sake, Karé, really?” Poe laughed, looking over his shoulder at Karé as music started to crackle through the speakers of the stereo. Karé laughed back, taking a drink as she began to dance- it took a moment for Finn to recognize the Beastie Boys song playing and he laughed in spite of himself.

When Jessika returned to the basement with a glass of water for Rey, she was accompanied by a group of loud people dressed in D’Qar’s colors, all either holding bottles of beer or red cups. The basement began to fill up quickly within the next hour, forcing Finn to press close to Poe’s side in order to make room for others trying to find spots to sit. The music grew louder to counter the growing crowd. Poe was on his third bottle of beer by the time every seat was filled, and everyone had to be careful to make their way around so as not to step on anyone's outstretched feet and legs. There was a murmuring between a group of people in the corner, and then one girl broke off from the group to find Karé, who was leaning against the wall with a red cup in place of her beer bottle from earlier, batting her eyelashes at a tall dark haired boy beside her. The girl whispered something in her ear and she laughed loudly, nodding and shouting over the music, “That’s a great idea!” Finn watched as she stumbled over to turn the music down, then found an empty beer bottle on the ground. “Spin the bottle upstairs in ten!” She shouted, throwing a wink to the boy she’d been flirting with before heading toward the stairs, a fairly large group of people following her. “You going to play?” Finn asked Poe as he watched Jessika whispered something in Rey’s ear before Rey smirked and stood up to head up the stairs. Poe shook his head, taking another drink from his bottle before smiling crookedly over at Finn. “Nah, it’ll be too loud up there. Nice and quiet here now.” He mumbled, going to take another drink before finding his bottle was empty. He sighed and rolled his eyes before leaning over to rest his cheek on Finn’s shoulder. Finn blushed softly, finding himself tensing up as he felt Poe’s chest rise and fall slowly against his arm. There were a few people still on the couches and the floor, many of them with tired eyes and half empty glasses, lounging about with much calmer music (Finn recognized it to be Velvet Underground) playing softly. “Can I ask you a question?” He heard Poe slur slightly after a moment of quiet. Finn cleared his throat, shrugging. “What is it?”

“I know that… that you and Rey’ve got a thing going on,” he yawned, pressing closer to Finn. “But if you didn’t, then would you… consider-”

“Dameron, can you come and help me out? Arana ran into my mom’s china cabinet and he made a huge fucking mess.” A voice called from upstairs- Jessika. Poe groaned, turning his face into Finn’s shoulder for a moment. Finn was blushing, his chest tight as Poe stood up, swaying slightly. “You okay? I can go up for you.” Finn said, quickly getting to his feet and grabbing onto Poe’s arm to brace him. Poe shook his head, presumably going to push Finn’s hand away but resting his warm palm gently on top of Finn’s hand for a moment. “No, it’s alright. I’ve been worse.” He looked over at Finn, biting his lip for a moment before releasing his hand and shrugging off his grip to head upstairs.

**///**

“Jesus, Iolo,” Poe muttered as he made it to the top of the stairs, seeing the shattered remains of a few pieces of Mrs. Pava’s china on the floor of the dining room, Jessika on her knees carefully collecting them. Poe kneeled down beside her with a sigh, shaking his head. “Did you kick him out?”

“Some junior said he’d take him home,” Jessika said, sinking back onto her heels. “My mom’s going to be so pissed…”

“I’ll help you fix it.”

“You’ve met my mom, nothing gets passed her,” Jessika said, laughing in spite of herself before sighing again, taking a shard from Poe’s fingers carefully before getting back to her feet.

“Everything okay?”

Poe turned to see Rey in the entrance from the living room to the dining room, her hands in her pockets and a sheepish smile on her face. Jessika turned and smiled at her, shaking her head. “Don’t worry, Iolo just had too much to drink.”

“Do you need help? Does… does he need a ride or anything?”

“No, he’s… fine, I’ve got this,” Jessika bit her lip softly, blushing before looking back to Poe. “Can you just run and grab the broom and dustpan for me? Then you can go and put the moves on Finn again.” Poe rolled his eyes and smirked, turning to head into the kitchen.

When he returned to the dining room, Jessika had her back to him, talking to Rey, who was leaning with one shoulder in the wall. He couldn’t decipher what they were saying, but he saw Jessika’s hand go up brush a piece of Rey’s hair from her eyes and tuck it behind her ear. He smirked slightly, debating on whether or not to interrupt them, and ultimately decided to clean up the shattered glass as quietly as he could, set the dustpan on the kitchen table, then made his way back to the basement.

The music had shifted from Velvet Underground to a folk song that Poe didn’t quite recognize, and the crowd downstairs had thinned out even further, only a few people still lounging around. Finn was in the same spot, however, glancing at his phone. Poe licked his lips quickly, taking a few steps toward the couch Finn was seated on before ultimately veering off to the other side of the room to pick through the music. Finn must’ve noticed, because Poe heard the sound of a body leaving a couch, and footsteps approaching him. “What are you looking for?” Finn asked, bending over beside him and trying to find where Poe’s eyes were. Poe blushed, feeling Finn’s arm brush passed his before Poe found another CD and popped it into the stereo. Poe stood up with a sigh, running a hand through his hair as the music crackled to life.

“ _I must have been through about a million girls, I'd love 'em and I'd leave them alone_ …”

Finn laughed softly, leaning against the wall beside the stereo. “I love this song,” he said distractedly, tapping his foot. Poe smiled back, looking up at Finn, whose eyes were on the floor. Poe swallowed, taking a half step closer, placing his hand on the wall beside Finn’s shoulder and leaning forward. Finn looked up, catching Poe’s eyes and blushing softly. “What… what were you asking me earlier?” Finn asked, voice soft. Poe bit his lip, looking Finn up and down briefly before shaking his head. “I don’t remember.”

“I’m not dating Rey,” Finn blurted out suddenly, his shoulders visibly tightening. Poe cocked his head slightly. “But… you’re always with her at lunch, and she… she’s got your sweater on right now-”

“How do you know that’s my sweater?”

Poe blushed. “Just… just looks like something you would wear,” he murmured before rubbing at his eye with the heel of his hand. “And you were saying how… she was mad that we were hanging out, I figured I was like… intruding on your date time or whatever…”

Finn laughed awkwardly, shaking his head. “Yeah, um… I can see where you’d think that me and her… we aren’t though. She’s just a friend.”

Poe thought for a minute, biting his tongue before falling into the wall beside Finn. “I mean… I should hope so, now that I think about it…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it looked like she was getting pretty cozy with Jess upstairs.”

“Really?” Finn laughed. “Jeez, I’ve been waiting for her to do something about that. She thinks she’s so smooth, trying to play the whole ‘I’ve never had a crush on anyone’ act…”

Poe laughed briefly, looking down. “Well, what about you?” He asked, looking up and folding his hands in front of himself.

“What do you mean, what about me?”

“Do you have a crush on anyone?”

“ _I fooled around and fell in love, since I met you baby_ …”

“Um… I’m not sure, honestly,” Finn said, turning to face Poe and biting his lip. Poe smiled softly before mirroring the expression. “I’m not sure either,” he whispered back, eyes falling to Finn’s hands for a moment. They shared a brief moment of eye contact, Poe’s breath catching in his throat. He leaned a bit closer, eyes still locked Finn’s-

“Hey, Finn, do you need- oh,” Poe looked over to see Rey at the foot of the stairs, one hand on the wall with her keys in her other hand. “I… I didn’t… I just…”

“Rey, what’s up?” Finn asked, standing up off of the wall and taking a few steps toward her. Poe watched him walk away before tipping his head into the wall and closing his eyes. “I’ve just got a headache, and… I was wondering if you needed a ride home before I left.” Rey said, her voice distant in Poe’s ears.

“I… yeah, a ride would be nice.”

“Alright, I’ll go and start my car- Poe, I can take you home too?”

Poe blinked, looking up and over at Rey and Finn for a moment before waving his hand dismissively. “Nah, I think I’ll… I think I’ll stick around for a while. See what Jess has got going on upstairs.” Poe saw Rey’s expression shift slightly at the mention of upstairs, or Jessika, he couldn’t quite tell but she appeared to be uncomfortable. “You sure, Poe?” Finn asked, turning away from Rey to step towards him. Poe took a step back, flashing a smile. “Yeah, it’s cool. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve passed out here. Her dad likes me, so I’m not worried.” Finn licked his lips quickly and nodded before turning back to Rey and heading up the stairs.

The song faded out, Poe still against the wall, his eyes closed. He waited in the quiet for a moment, then made his way up the stairs, finding himself stumbling slightly once again. “Poe, have you seen Rey?” Jessika asked him once he reached the landing, sounding out of breath. Poe arched an eyebrow. “She said she had a headache and was getting ready to take Finn home.”

“Wait- really? Shit,” she muttered, pushing passed Poe to get to the front door, a blast of cold air hitting him as she made her way outside. Poe watched her leave, going to stop the door and make his way outside as well, but then decided to let the door swing closed, his shoulders sagging.


	5. Chapter 5

“To Finn, 8:17 a.m.: hey im not gonna be at school today”

“From Finn, 8:17 a.m.: Why not? Are you okay?”

“To Finn, 8:31 a.m.: real hungover”

“To Finn, 8:35 a.m.: can u lemme know if solo does anything crazy”

Finn didn’t respond again, figuring that Poe could use some sleep, although it puzzled him as to why he was still hungover three days after Jessika’s party (it later occurred to him he must’ve done more drinking over the weekend, which caused him to wonder why he would). He didn’t ask, just skimmed over the four texts over and over for a time before pocketing his phone and replacing it with his notebook.

Since the events that had occurred at Jessika’s party on Friday, Finn’s mind had really only been in one place. His poems all started to sound the same, waxing romantic about thick, dark eyelashes splayed out over high cheekbones, rich laughter and wide smiles, bright hazel eyes that glinted like whiskey in the low light of late day. His pen shook whenever he wrote about Poe, his handwriting actually appearing worse than it usually did, but he couldn’t find a way to write about something, anything else. Several of the pages containing these half stanzas were torn out and either crumpled up or ripped to pieces, but there was one that he kept coming back to. It had little description of Poe’s physical attributes, and the descriptions that were present were fairly vague: smiling eyes, gentle hands, and the like. Finn tried to write about the things he saw in Poe he felt no one else saw. One side of the coin was Poe Dameron, the captain of the lacrosse team, arrogant but charming, disrupting rooms with thunderous laughter. The other was Poe Dameron, a gentle young man, who played the guitar but couldn’t find words to put to music and loved his dog. Poe Dameron, an old soul who always filled up silence with empty conversation because he couldn’t stand the quiet, who always seemed to have a story no one knew they wanted to hear. Finn was sure there were others who knew this side of Poe, like Jessika, for instance, but for some reason, these small details about him seemed to be clear as day to Finn, like Poe was trying to make him see. At lunch, Finn was surprised to see that Rey wasn’t there, either. He shot her a quick text, a simple “Where are you?” before returning to his poem. He didn’t get very far, however, being interrupted by the buzzing of his phone on the table.

“To Finn, 12:09 p.m.: be out soon, sorry”

Finn pursed his lips briefly, but ultimately decided to not let his mind wander and get back to writing.

He found himself thinking about what Poe had said at Jessika’s party. How he seemed fairly concerned about whether or not Finn was dating Rey, how when Finn asked him if he had a crush on anyone and he said he wasn’t sure. He also thought about how close Poe had gotten to him physically, resting his head on his shoulder and his nose just about brushing Finn’s just before Finn had left with Rey. That particular interaction caused Finn’s stomach to flip, and his grip on his pen to tighten. In that instance, in Jessika’s nearly empty basement, Poe had been so close. So close, that Finn could see a light dusting of freckles across his cheeks, a shadow of facial hair along his jaw. So close, that the only thing Finn could smell was Poe: pine-scented deodorant on his skin, cheap beer on his breath. What he would’ve given for a few ounces of courage in that moment, to lean forward and just barely brush his lips over the corner of Poe’s mouth, feel his arms wind around his neck as he fell back against the wall. Finn set his pen down and rubbed at his face with a sigh.

Rey came outside after a handful of minutes, looking… different. Her hair, which had been in a loose bun this morning, was down and hanging in her face, and she wasn’t wearing one of Finn’s heavy sweatshirts or cardigans like she so often would, but rather, an oversized dark blue flannel that she had pushed up to the elbows. She gave him an awkward smile before taking her usual seat across from Finn at the table, rummaging through her bag as she so often would. Finn thought for a moment, noticing a swipe of something pink and sparkling just at her exposed collarbone, before placing two and two together. Rey must have sensed Finn’s realization somehow, then kicked his knee under the table, glaring daggers at him. “Not a word,” she said through clenched teeth.

“You and-”

“Not. A. Word.”

“But at school?”

She kicked him again, eliciting a yelp from from him as he pulled his knee up to his chest. “What did I say?” Finn simply smiled knowingly, quickly pulling his other foot up onto the bench to avoid being kicked again. Rey arched an eyebrow at him before pulling the unbuttoned sides of the flannel closed across her chest. “What are you working on?” She asked before looking back into her bag. Finn looked down at his notebook and nonchalantly flipped to another page. “Nothing, really,” he said, shrugging one shoulder. Rey’s eyes went from Finn’s eyes to his notebook, then her hand shot across the table to grab the notebook. Just as Finn went to protest and snatch it back, Rey had swung around the bench with her back to Finn and got to her feet, grinning as she flipped through the pages. She stopped suddenly, Finn quickly stepping up behind her as she spun around. “This is about Poe,” she said, a devilish grin stretching across her face.

“Rey, just give it back-”

“‘A smile such as yours is meant to be shared, but I feel it a privilege when I'm the only one to see it?’”

“Rey, cut it out-”

“You’re going to give this to him,” Rey said, skimming over the rest of the poem quickly before shutting the notebook and finally handing it back. Finn took it quickly, hugging it close to his chest as though Rey could see through the cover to continue reading his writing. “I- no, I-”

“No, I don’t care if you were planning on giving it to him or not, because you’re going to give it to him now.”

“Rey, it’s not- I- he isn’t even here-”

Rey grinned, biting her lip as she looked between Finn and the notebook, then slyly ripped it from his grasp again and rushed passed Finn to head inside. “Rey, get back- Rey!”

He’d attempted to follow her through the cafeteria, but found that he had lost her in the thick crowd of students. He stopped, looking frantic for her, before finding her perched on the edge of a table containing Karé, Iolo, Jessika, and a handful of other members of the lacrosse team, mumbling something to Jessika. “Rey!” He shouted over the chaos. Rey looked up at him and Jessika turned her head, but Jessika simply smirked and stood up, grabbing Rey’s hand and weaving her way through the cafeteria, dragging Rey behind her. Finn attempted to chase after them, but lost sight of them once they turned a corner in the hallway. He paused for a moment only to catch his breath, then tried to think of where they could be going. Then it dawned on him, a sudden realization reminiscent of the one he’d had only moments ago about Rey, and he burst off running down the hall.

By the time he’d reached Poe’s locker, Rey and Jessika were nowhere to be seen, and Finn could hardly breathe. His notebook was on the floor in front of Poe’s locker, which was shut and locked. Finn sighed, going over to pick up the notebook and then sit on the floor with his back against the wall of lockers. He took a few deep breaths, closing his eyes, then began to look through the notebook again. His heart all but stopped.

A page had been torn out, the edge of spiral bound paper frayed, with only a blank corner of the missing page left. Finn flipped frantically through the notebook before dropping the notebook onto the floor, realizing the missing page was his poem about Poe, and said poem must have been missing because Rey had torn it out, and she’d gone to Jessika because she knew where Poe’s locker was and also the combination to his lock. Finn tried to think if there was any incriminating evidence that would lead Poe to believe that Finn wrote the poem, but even after racking his brain he couldn’t think of anything, and that either meant there was nothing there, or he just couldn’t remember. He sighed and looked up as he heard footsteps down the hall, seeing Jessika, the flannel Rey had been wearing moments ago tied around her waist. She laughed once she made eye contact with Finn, then saluted him lazily before walking up beside him, leaning against the lockers. “Oh, honey,” she sighed, one hand on her hip and a grin on her face. “You’ll thank me later.”

“You know, for some reason, I highly doubt that,” Finn said, getting to his feet and dusting off his pants. “You know, you could help me out and unlock the locker for me. I know all this was Rey’s idea.”

“It was,” Jessika said, folding her arms across her chest. “But I thought it was a good one. He’ll love it.”

“But-”

Jessika shushed him, holding her hands up for a moment before resting them on Finn’s shoulders. Her eyes were closed for a moment, taking a deep breath before smiling and opening them once again. “He’ll love it.” She repeated, lifting one hand to pat Finn’s cheek before turning on her heel to head down the hall once again. Finn simply watched her go, then fell back against the locker with a heavy sigh.

**///**

Poe returned to school the next day, despite still feeling like his head was filled with cement and his stomach turned with every step. He groaned softly as he made his way down the hall, rubbing at his eye lazily. He came up on his locker with a yawn, fumbling with the lock for a moment before finally wrenching it open.

Poe had spent most of the weekend with Jessika, going from cleaning up the aftermath of her party to Poe’s house, where Jessika had brought another case of beer, a few joints, and good spirits. Poe’s father often worked long hours at his garage over the weekends, which left the house fairly empty aside from BB-8 running through the hallways and the sounds of Poe tuning and retuning his guitar. This weekend, the sound of quiet and fairly tipsy conversation accompanied the guitar and the dog.

“I did something stupid,” Poe had said, his guitar upright in his lap and his cheek pressed against the neck, eyes half closed. The two of them were in Poe’s bedroom, which was no more of a mess than usual, a pathway through loose papers and dirty laundry being made from the door to the bed.

“When do you do anything else?” Jessika laughed, taking another drink from her half empty bottle as BB-8 ran into the room, panting excitedly.

“I’m serious, Testor,” Poe insisted, setting the guitar down and leaning it against his side table before sitting up and wrapping his arms around his knees. “At the party. I… I didn’t want to drink because I knew that…”

“You’d get flirty and or handsy?”

Poe let out a breathy laugh. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Jessika simply shook her head, patting her lap to invite BB-8 up onto the bed, an invitation the corgi took happily. “Listen, buddy,” she said, finishing off her beer and setting the empty bottle on the floor. “You should really just stop second guessing yourself. I see the way you look at him, like he’s some… I don’t even know. A ray of light. He’s blinding you.”

“You can say that again,” Poe sighed, turning to lie back onto the bed, his head by Jessika’s knee. BB-8 licked at his cheeks for a moment before resting her head down on Jessika’s thigh.

“Look at me and Rey, Poe,” she offered. “I’ve been… staring her down practically for the past three years, hoping that she might say or do something. And when she didn’t, I did. And now…”

“What do you mean, you did something?” Poe laughed, sitting up once again. “You rigged spin the bottle so that you could kiss her, and then she left right after that.”

“Yeah, but we also exchanged numbers and we’ve been texting ever since Friday, right? That’s something. You’ve been texting Finn for what… three weeks now?”

“Something like that.”

“And what have you done?”

Poe sighed, falling back onto the bed, his face buried in the crumpled blankets. “Why don’t you just date him for me?” He asked, voice muffled. He felt Jessika’s hand on his back, her laugh shaking the bed. “Only if you date Rey for me.”

“You can do that all on your own, you’re better at this than me.”

“Easier said than done, my friend,” Jessika said, patting the back of Poe's head gently before he sat up. “Can we smoke now?”

The two of them had split a joint, as well as both drinking one more beer before Jessika found her phone to call and order a pizza. BB-8 was sleeping on the floor beside the bed, and Poe’s head was in Jessika’s lap, soft laughter making his shoulders shake as Jessika ran her fingers through his hair. “I remember when I first saw him,” Poe sighed, relaxing into Jessika’s touch. “He went to a lacrosse game with Rey.”

“Yeah, I remember that, too,” Jessika said sleepily, leaning back on one hand and grinning. “That was Rey’s first game. I thought Finn was her boyfriend.”

“She was wearing one of his sweatshirts,” Poe remembered, eyes opening slightly.

“She looked so small.”

“The stadium lights made him look like he was glowing.”

“She looked like she would have rather been anywhere else.”

“Do you have another joint?”

“Fuck yeah, I do.”

The doorbell rang about halfway through their second joint, which caused Poe to groan tiredly and sit up to head toward the front door, BB-8 at his heels. He pushed open the door, fishing around his pocket to find his wallet, sticking a leg in front of BB-8 to keep her inside. He quickly found a twenty to pay for the pizza, but set his foot down without thinking as he took the box, BB-8 barking happily before rushing between his legs and out the door. “Shit- BB-8! God, I- thanks-” he said quickly, rushing into the kitchen to set the box on the table, Jessika heading through the hall leading from Poe’s room to the kitchen, running a hand through her mussed hair. “What happened?”

“BB-8 got out and… and neither of us can drive and... and she's so small and-”

“Hey, hey, slow down,” Jessika said soothingly, grabbing Poe’s arms. “We’ll find her. I’ll call Karé.”

But after a four hour long search that led them into darkened late afternoon hours with no results, BB-8 was still missing, which only caused Poe to grow more and more worried. Jessika and Karé both stayed with him, trying to ease him into drinking water and listening to him come up with ideas of where BB-8 could’ve gone, and- the more he drank- terrified theories of why she hadn’t come back yet.

On Monday, after Poe had texted Finn, he texted Jessika, asking if she could make some posters of BB-8 just in case. He spent part of the day sleeping off his hangover, and the other part driving through town trying to find his dog. Tuesday came, still no luck, and Poe would’ve rather been anywhere in the world than at school. He searched his locker for a moment, pulling out a textbook, only to watch a slip of paper flutter out from between the book he’d grabbed and another and fall to the floor. He arched an eyebrow, slowly kneeling down to pick up the paper, which had been carefully folded and obviously tucked into his locker with great care. He flipped the paper around in his hand, trying to see if maybe it was his and it fell out of a book, but found no such indication. He set the book down back in his locker, then unfolded the paper. The handwriting was difficult to decipher, as though whoever had written it had been shaking, but after a few once overs Poe could figure out what it said. 

The words made his chest tighten, even through his confusion. It was a kind sentiment, a sort of poem about bright eyes and brighter laughter, shining smiles and gentle words. Poe swallowed, reading through the poem a handful of times, then leaned against the lockers, biting his lip. He thought for a moment, trying to think of where the poem could have come from, but no one in particular came to mind. He checked the time, seeing that his first class began in the next three minutes, and quickly decided to fold the paper up as neatly as he could, then carefully tuck it into his pocket before grabbing his textbook again and making his way down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short! The next two should be longer, considering the story is nearly over. I'm debating writing a few one shots for this universe once I get the last two chapters done, so stay tuned!


	6. Chapter 6

“Remember how Ren challenged me to a fencing rematch because I kicked his ass?”

“Yeah?”

“You remember how I also agreed to it, right?”

“Oh, jeez, you're seriously going to go?”

“We shook on it. I may hate him but I’m not going back on my word.”

It was lunch on Friday. Finn and Rey were outside, as per usual, only today, they were joined by Jessika, who- since her party last week- was almost always glued to Rey’s side. It was odd, seeing her without Poe, but Finn figured that she saw enough of him at lacrosse practice and otherwise, and didn't get to spend much time with Rey at school (after school, Finn assumed, was a different story). Having her spend lunch with them that day seemed to involve a lot of playing catch up, not that Finn minded. Of course, Jessika knew that Rey fenced, and she knew that First Order Academy’s fencing team was captained by Kylo Ren, who was infamous for cheating to get what he wanted, but she did not know that at her last match, Rey had gotten the upper hand on him even when he tried to cheat his way to victory, which ultimately ended with a win for Rey and Kylo Ren asking for a rematch, one with no rules or referees to keep them from showing their true potential with an epée.

“So, what, you just show up and kick his ass all over again?” Jessika had asked, taking a sip from her water bottle. Rey shrugged. “I don't know, it might be a little more complicated than that? I figured when he said no refs or rules, he also meant no helmets or uniforms, which makes it a little more…”

“Edgy?” Jessika said, throwing her voice down in pitch and smirking. Rey laughed, bumping her with her elbow before shaking her head. “I mean, either way, he's still probably going to lose. My coach is kind of a hard ass, when we practice, it's for hours on end…”

Finn enjoyed watching the two of them talk. It was similar to how Jessika talked to Poe about lacrosse, only now she seemed completely engrossed in Rey’s explanations of fencing rules, only stopping her briefly to ask a question occasionally. Otherwise, she sat with her chin in her hands, looking up at Rey like she was the sun.

He bit his lip softly, looking over his shoulder when he heard the doors to the courtyard swing open. “Oh, looks like that's my cue,” he heard Jessika say. He turned back to catch Jessika’s eyes dart around for a moment before dropping a kiss to Rey’s shoulder, then she got to her feet. At the back of the group, Finn was surprised to see, was Poe. He had his hands deep in the pockets of his jacket, and his head was done. His hair was limp and in his tired looking eyes, and he walked as though he had weights tied to his ankles. He watched as Jessika quickly ran to his side, grabbing his arm as she walked beside him. She said something that neither Finn nor Rey could hear, and Poe simply shook his head; Jessika put her arm around Poe’s back as they walked toward the field.

“Wonder what’s got Poe looking so down,” Rey said, watching them walk away for a moment before pulling a water bottle from her bag and unscrewing the top. Finn watched them worriedly before shrugging. “I wish I knew.”

Poe had been late to Mr. Solo’s class, something that Finn would normally never bat an eye at, but in the weeks leading up to the big lacrosse game last Friday, it seemed as though Poe was showing up earlier and earlier to that class, finding a seat in the back right next to where Finn always sat, and would often look up at him the moment he walked in with a broad grin across his face. Finn’s grip on the strap of his bag tightened nervously before he went back to sit down where he usually did, pulling out his notebook.

Poe walked in about fifteen minutes into the class, and Finn noticed that Mr. Solo had stopped him at his desk. He tried to hear what they were discussing through the din of the classroom, but considering the noise and his place at the back of the room, it was nearly impossible to distinguish what the person next to him was saying, let alone what two people at the front of the room were whispering. Poe just shook his head at something Mr. Solo said before finally heading to the back of the room, dropping his head onto the desk glumly. Finn bit his lip as he looked over at him, trying to pay attention to his notebook before he all but gave up and looked over at Poe. “Are you okay?”

“M’fine.” Poe muttered, sighing and picking up his head only for a moment to turn and face Finn, resting his cheek on his arm. “Tired.”

“You just seem… off.”

Poe laughed once, closing his eyes for a moment. “You’d be surprised how many people have been telling me that recently.”

Finn smiled sadly, leaning his head onto his hand. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Poe was quiet for a moment before he finally opened his eyes, looking more tired than he did before. “BB-8 got out and I haven’t been able to find her,” he said, voice hoarse. “I spent like… half of yesterday looking for her. Jess even made posters.”

“I’m sure she’ll show up soon, Poe-”

“She’s never run away before,” Poe said, finally lifting his head and rubbing at his face. “I just… I’ve never been worried about her running away, but I’ve always been careful, you know? And then the one time I’m not…”

Poe trailed off before sitting up and running a hand through his hair. Upon closer examination, Finn could see that his eyes were red and puffy from what must have been crying. Finn swallowed, debating internally for a moment before sliding his chair closer to Poe’s, offering him an apologetic smile. “I can help you look for her, if you want.”

Poe sniffed. “Are you sure? I mean, I’ve already got Jess helping me out-”

“What’s wrong with an extra pair of eyes?”

And then Poe smiled, a small and private smile, an expression that contrasted with the sadness in his eyes. He sniffed again, rubbing at his eye for a moment before nodding. “That would be nice.”

Finn tried to move the conversation away from anything BB-8 or even dog related, bringing up how Rey was challenged by Kylo Ren to a fencing rematch because of the outcome of the match last week, which- to Finn’s joy- caused Poe to laugh softly (“So what, like… street fencing? Is that even a thing?”). Finn tried his best to keep Poe smiling, not because seeing him smile was like watching Fourth of July fireworks (okay, maybe that was part of the reason), but because seeing Poe Dameron sad seemed so unnatural- someone that naturally joyful and bright should never have their fire doused for any reason.

When the bell finally rang, Finn watched a flurry of emotions cross Poe’s face, his happiness from the conversation quickly fading into realization, and then back into the same glum expression he’d worn when he’d walked in. Finn saw him sigh as he got to his feet, then he slid his hand into his pockets, and something strange happened. His face changed again for a moment, an expression Finn could not quite read. Poe bit his lip for a moment, turning to Finn again as though he was about to say something, but then must have changed his mind, shaking his head briefly before walking toward the door. Finn’s chest tightened.

Jessika was waiting at Poe’s locker, scrolling through something on her phone, one earbud jammed into her ear. She was smiling. She looked up as Poe unlocked his locker then straightened up, smiling. “Hey, buddy, how’re you feeling?” Poe shrugged, pulling the locker open. “Finn said he's going to help us look.” He said after a moment, tossing his head toward Finn. Jessika looked between the two of them briefly, smirking slightly at Finn before directing her attention back to Poe. “Jessika’s band of merry men,” she said, laughing softly as Poe slung his backpack over his shoulder and shut his locker. Finn noticed a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

As the three of them headed towards the door, Jessika stopped suddenly at the sound of someone shouting her name. They all turned to see Rey, bag nearly falling off her shoulder as she skidded to a stop in front of Jessika. She tried to say something, but then had to stop herself to double over with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Jessika laughed, crossing her arms as Rey finally stood up. “Go ahead, take your time,” she said, laughing harder as Rey grinned and punched her shoulder. “Can I borrow you? I need some good luck for my rematch later.”

“Isn’t it like… in twenty minutes?” Jessika asked, sticking her thumbs into the pockets of her jeans.

“Yeah, but I was planning on being late anyway. Mess with Ren’s head a little bit.”

“I mean… I was going to-”

“No, you’re fine,” Poe insisted, waving his hand. “Me and Finn can handle it.”

Jessika bit her lip, taking a few steps toward Rey. “If you're sure…”

Poe let out a soft laugh, shaking his head. “Jess, just go,” he said, his hands going to his pockets. Jessika smiled, Rey leaning over to hook her chin over her shoulder and whispering something to her. Poe nudged Finn's side with his elbow. “Come on.”

The sky was grey outside, and it was drizzling lightly. Poe looked up and sighed, glancing over at Finn, who was clad in only a light knitted sweater, pulled something from the jacket pocket before shrugging it off. “Here, you could use it,” he said, holding it out to Finn as they headed toward the parking lot and stuffing whatever he’d pulled out into the pocket of his jeans. Finn blinked, looking over at him. “What- no, I'm fine-”

“Finn, it's fine,” Poe insisted, smiling slightly. “Besides, I’m pretty sure I've got like… eight other hoodies in my car.” Finn smiled back, biting his lip as he took the jacket gingerly, slipping it on as they reached Poe's car. It was warm from being worn all day, and it smelled like Poe's deodorant. Finn bit his lip, pulling it close to himself before climbing into the car.

Poe had said that he felt the best course of action was to drive down his street and a few adjacent streets near it before getting out of the car to actively search. Finn didn’t mind, having never owned a pet of any kind he wouldn’t have known where to start had he been asked, and he wasn’t unhappy with the comfortable silence the two of them sat in, the rain beating against the windshield nearly in time with the sound of Poe’s music. Poe drove slowly, his knuckles nearly white from gripping the steering wheel as he leaned toward the window, squinting. Driving alone took about an hour and a half before Poe decided to park back at his house then instruct Finn where to go. “She’s real friendly,” Poe had said as he fished a denim jacket out of his backseat. “She’ll come to Baby but I think she thinks BB-8 is her name, so either works. She doesn’t know you but she loves new people.” Finn nodded before noticing his bag was still slung over his shoulder. Poe apparently noticed as well, then gestured to the backseat. “You can just leave that in here. Don’t want anything in there getting ruined by the rain.” Finn nodded again, sliding the bag off his shoulder and handing it over to Poe, who haphazardly tossed it into the backseat before pulling on the jacket. “Just start heading left. When you hit Jackson just turn around and head back this way.”

They parted ways, the sound of Poe calling for the dog growing fainter and fainter with every step Finn took. The neighborhood was unfamiliar, but walking through it made Finn think about the neighborhood he lived in- having two parents that worked in medicine, his house always seemed much too big for him, the surrounding houses bigger still. The houses near Poe’s were smaller, quaint, many of them with doors and shutters painted with bright colors. Poe’s house did seem a bit out of place alongside the others, however- most of the houses down this way looked fairly similar and fairly new, whereas Poe’s looked worn, like there had always been a large family living there. Finn remembered Poe saying something about how it was just him, his father, and BB-8, which had created an image in Finn’s head of an apartment-like living situation, but after seeing the house and those around it, Finn wondered if Poe, too, felt like his house was too big.

It seemed the longer he walked, the harder the rain came down. He found himself shouting over the clatter of raindrops smacking into the pavement, hoping that if the dog were near she would hear him, but also hoping there weren’t any people wondering why someone was walking down their street practically screaming. The rain was freezing, if Finn hadn’t been wearing Poe’s jacket he knew he would’ve been freezing. However, he still found himself winding his arms around himself once the wind picked up. Finn tried to pay close attention to the street signs, making sure he didn’t overshoot the street Poe had mentioned and get lost in a neighborhood he knew nothing about. By the time he spotted the faded word “Jackson” on the tall sign, he still had caught no sight of a dog, and he sighed softly. Maybe Poe had better luck, he thought to himself before turning on his heel to start heading back toward Poe’s house. Then he heard it-

Barking. It was a light and excited bark, but the sound cut through the din of the rain. Finn turned around, squinting through the haze of rain to see a fuzzy orange dot racing toward him. “BB-8?” He called, tilting his head slightly. The shape’s speed increased, and soon Finn could distinctly see that it was a corgi, orange and white coat with a burgundy collar, something silver glinting on it. Finn kneeled down, water seeping through his pant leg as the dog approached. She seemed to be smiling, barking happily as she reached Finn, going up onto her hind legs and pressing muddy paws into his chest. Finn laughed, scratching the dog behind the ears. She panted, going back to all fours before sniffing at Finn’s hand, cold nose burying into his palm. Her attention then went to the end of Poe’s jacket at Finn’s wrist, and she sat down on the pavement, looking confused. “Come on, BB-8,” Finn said, getting to his feet. BB-8 simply looked up at him, head cocked to the left, causing one ear to flop over. Then suddenly, she barked again, loudly, and ran past Finn down the sidewalk. “BB-8!” He shouted after her, quickly turning around before chasing her down the sidewalk. His heart was pounding in his ears, nearly falling down to the ground and skidding to a stop once he realized he was back at Poe's house. In the distance, he could see Poe making his way back as well, hands buried in the pockets of his jacket and his head down. BB-8 barked and he saw Poe look up, glancing around briefly. His hair was limp and sticking to his face. BB-8 barked once again, and then Poe broke into a run, quickly going to his knees once he was close enough. “BB-8, buddy!” He shouted, grinning broadly and scratching her under the chin. BB-8 licked at his face, nearly knocking him to the ground. “You found her!” Poe said after a moment, arms wound around BB-8 as he sat up.

“I think she found me,” Finn laughed sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his head. Poe smiled up at him as he got to his feet. BB-8 ran circles around Poe's ankles before stopping between him and Finn, looking between the two of them. “Thanks for helping me out,” Poe said after a minute, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “I… I don't know what I would've done if I didn't find her.”

“Hey, no problem,” Finn said, shrugging slightly. It was quiet aside from the rain for a moment, Poe looking up at Finn with bright eyes. He looked away when he heard BB-8 whining, pushing her head into his shin. “Shit, I forgot it was raining, let's go inside.”

“I should really start heading to FOA for Rey’s rematch with Ben-”

“Shit, I forgot about that, too!” Poe exclaimed, laughing again and shaking his head. “Here, I’ll drive you so you don't have to walk- I just gotta bring BB-8 inside.”

**///**

First Order Academy, much like its students, was cold and unforgiving. The walls were stark white and the floors were clean black tile. The lockers were black as well, appearing to be an extension of the floor, dark shapes drawing up the walls. Unlike D’Qar, whose walls bore posters advertising clubs and after school activities, FOA’s walls were completely bare. The gym was spacious, filled with harsh white light. The bleachers were tall, black, and imposing. When Poe and Finn had arrived, the center of the gym was covered with black matting, with Kylo Ren, Hux and Phasma standing together at one end, and Rey and Jessika at the other. Poe knew Phasma and Hux from lacrosse, but had never really seen them off of the field.

Phasma looked almost the same as she did on the field as she did off. Her hair was blonde and long, hanging in front of her sharp face. She wore loose fitting band t-shirts that nearly hit her knees and almost masked her broad shoulders. She had a small waist and long legs, and wore black jeans with a studded belt, and torn up black sneakers. She was wearing a deep red lipstick with smudged black eyeliner, and a septum piercing. She brushed her hair behind one gauged ear and looked over at the boy sitting beside her.

Hux had a gaunt face with high cheekbones, his eyes were cold and mean, and he had one eyebrow arched. In his right ear was an industrial bar, three hoops, and a pearl in the lobe. He was often wearing a black Adidas training jacket with jeans that appeared too tight to be comfortable, and tall black leather boots. His light red hair was swept up and out of his face in a wave. His nails were painted black, and, like Phasma, had dark eyeliner, however his was much cleaner looking.

Kylo Ren stood between them back to Rey and Jessika, his long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was wearing torn grey jeans with a belt that looked like it could belong to Phasma (in actuality, it could have been Hux’s, too), worn black boots, and an FOA Fencing t-shirt. His epée was in one hand, and the other hand was being examined by Hux, who ran his fingers delicately over the back of Kylo Ren’s hand, frowning. “When did you let your cuticles get so dry?” He asked, tilting his head and looking up at Kylo Ren. “After this, I’m giving you a manicure, don’t let me forget.”

“Are we going to do this or are you just going to flirt with your boyfriend all day, Ben?” Rey shouted, her voice bouncing off the walls of the gym. Poe watched as Kylo Ren tore his hand from Hux’s and turned quickly, looking red in the face. “It’s Kylo-” He groaned. “He is _not_ my boyfriend.” 

Poe stifled a laugh.

Jessika spotted the two of them as Rey stepped onto the mat, epée at her side. Jessika looked between Poe and Finn, smirking after a moment. “You know, Poe’s real attached to that jacket, Finn,” she said, holding her hands behind her back. Poe blushed as Finn looked down at the jacket, pinching the fabric between two fingers. “It was just… raining and I was being nice,” Poe said quickly, hands going into the pockets of his own jacket.

“I can tell it was raining, you’re soaked. How long were you outside?”

“The rain picked up when we were looking for BB-8,” Finn explained, rubbing at his arm awkwardly. “We found her, but it took a while.”

Poe scoffed. “ _We_ didn’t find anything, _you _found her.”__

“We were looking together-”

“If you ladies are finished,” Hux’s lilting voice cut through their conversation. He had stood up from the bleachers and was now in between Rey and Kylo Ren, one hand on his cocked hip. He pursed his lips for a moment then squinted, gasping overdramatically. “Is that 2187?” He said, much too loudly. Poe raised an eyebrow inquisitively, looking over at Finn, who sighed and rubbed at his face. “It is, isn’t it? How’s traitor life suiting you?”

“What’s he talking about?” Poe asked quietly, looking over at Finn.

“2187 was my locker number here. Hux’s locker was two down from mine. He would never leave me alone, and he was always flirting with my friend, Slip.”

“I never would’ve guessed he was gay,” Poe said with a roll of his eyes. Finn smirked. Poe smiled at the expression briefly, then looked over at Rey and Kylo Ren.

“There’s only one rule for this tournament-” Hux began.

“Bout,” Rey corrected quietly as Kylo Ren sneered.

"There are no rules,” Hux continued, as though he hadn’t been interrupted. “It will go on as long as it must-”

“Four minutes, tops. I’m leaving after that.”

“Look, honey, I know you want to get back to your butch of a girlfriend, but can you at least let me have this?”

Rey rolled her eyes; Jessika fumed silently from the sideline.

“The fight-”

“Bout,” Rey repeated.

“Starts now!”

Kylo Ren took the first strike, lunging forward with animosity. Rey easily glided away from his jab, looking as cool and collected as ever. Poe’s eyes went wide as he watched her move around the floor, blocking or dodging each of Kylo Ren’s attacks with grace. He remembered Finn saying something about how Rey moved like water, and he was so _right_. The way Rey approached fencing made Poe think about how he approached lacrosse- with an apprehensive kind of appreciation, like seeing a lioness: beautiful, but dangerous. Poe was taken back for a moment, watching with bated breath as Rey landed a point on Kylo Ren, which Hux announced halfheartedly. By the time Rey had received her fourth point, Kylo Ren had earned three, and that was after trying to throw Rey to the ground multiple times, only to have his legs swept out from under him by Rey, who seemed to always be one step ahead of him. Poe had stepped closer to Finn without thinking, biting his lip as he watched the bout unfold. Finn glanced over at him and smiled softly. “You’ve never watched a fencing bout, have you?” He asked quietly, leaning over to whisper in his ear.

“No, how can you tell?” Poe joked, grinning at him. “She’s amazing.”

“You wouldn’t know it, but Ben’s been practicing. If you’d seen him before, you could tell. But he gets worked up real easy.”

“Funny. Hux is like that too on the field.”

“Aw, they’re perfect for each other.”

Another minute passed, with a score of five-three. Poe could see beads of sweat popping out on Rey’s forehead, whereas sweat dripped in buckets down Kylo Ren’s face, soaking into the neck of his t-shirt.

“He’s getting tired,” Poe said softly, wetting his lips as he watched the bout unfold. Finn nodded. The longer the match went on, the more erratic Kylo Ren’s movements became. He was breathing heavily, and yet, Rey seemed like she was walking on air. Her eye would occasionally dart from her opponent to a clock on the opposite wall, and yet, she still seemed to manage to dodge every one of Kylo Ren’s advances. Poe wondered if he seemed that collected when he was playing lacrosse.

Suddenly, Kylo Ren managed to get the upper hand, slipping away from an advance from Rey, then managing to get behind her. He thrusted an elbow into her back before she could turn around, sending her to the ground. She went to roll onto her back, lifting one leg to drive her foot into Kylo Ren’s chest, baring her teeth. As she went to get back to her feet, Kylo Ren stopped her with the point of his epée.

“Time!” Hux shouted. Kylo Ren smirked down at Rey as he pulled his arm back, finally allowing her to get to her feet. “And the final score is… five-four. D’Qar wins.”

Poe shouted victoriously, throwing his arms up before realizing he was the only one to do so, his voice echoing throughout the otherwise empty gym. “Usually, we just clap,” Finn said gently, laughing softly. Poe blushed despite himself and shrugged.

“What? That can’t be-” Kylo Ren panted, throwing down the epée angrily and storming up to Hux.

“Believe it, honey,” Rey said, throwing her voice to imitate on Hux’s nasally inflection. Hux looked offended, mouth dropping open as he placed a hand over his chest. Poe watched as Rey smirked, making her way off the mat and toward him, Jessika, and Finn. “Come on,” she said with a mock yawn as she threw a parting glance over her shoulder. “This was boring, anyway.”

Rey and Jessika walked out arm in arm, Jessika raving about Rey’s talent and Rey listening and blushing humbly. The rain had finally ceased, small streams of sunlight filtering down through the clouds. “They’re nice together,” Finn had said as he watched them walk toward Jessika’s car, Poe unlocking his own. Poe glanced over at them, then looked back to Finn, smiling softly. “Yeah, they are.”

The car ride was quiet, they usually were. Driving back to Finn’s took longer than Poe had expected. “You used to have to drive this long just to go to school?” He asked. Finn laughed, shrugging. Once they finally reached Finn’s house, Finn blinked and sat up, going to shrug off Poe’s jacket. Poe quickly reached over, placing one hand on his arm. “No, no, keep it,” he said, barely registering the words until they’d already left his mouth. Finn looked over at him inquisitively. “Are you sure?” Poe swallowed. “Um… yeah, I’m sure. It suits you.” Poe could’ve sworn he saw Finn blush. “I...” Poe went on. “Thank you. For helping me find BB-8 and everything. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“I’m glad she’s safe.”

“Yeah, me too.”

They exchanged a long glance, Poe biting his lip softly, Finn with one hand on the door. He reached back into the backseat, suddenly very close to Poe (who debated on reaching up to trail his fingertips gently across Finn’s cheek) to grab his bag. “I’ll… see you Monday, then.” He said, finally opening the door.

“Yeah, Monday,” Poe said distantly, watching him climb out of the car. The door slammed shut, and Poe sat for a moment, pondering.

He drove home in silence, not bothering to turn his cassette player back on. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. When he reached his own house, he found himself sitting in the driveway once again, simply thinking. He climbed out slowly, going to pull his own bag from the backseat, when he noticed something he didn’t quite recognize. It was a notebook, with a red cover and frayed edges. Poe’s brow furrowed and he reached down to grab it. He tilted his head, flipping through the pages briefly before realizing it was Finn’s. He blushed, stopping on one page to read over the words written across it. His breath caught in his throat. He quickly fumbled around in his pocket, retrieving the poem he’d left in his jacket for the past few days. His eyes quickly glanced over the words he’d already read a thousand times over, then he looked back into the notebook.

“ _Oh._ ”


	7. Chapter 7

“Hey, are you alright?”

“Um… yeah? Why?”

“You’re not writing, you’re always writing.”

“I can’t find my notebook.”

It had been two weeks since Rey’s rematch with Kylo Ren, two weeks since Finn helped Poe find BB-8, two weeks since Poe gave Finn his jacket (which he still hasn’t asked for, which made Finn a little confused, but he didn’t question it.) In fact, Poe had been acting particularly off since he’d found BB-8, his behavior becoming stranger and stranger with each day. Jessika had waved Finn off, telling him it was nothing to worry about and that he should “really talk to him, like, seriously. Talk to him. Please.” Rey had reacted the same way, but Finn only assumed she did because Jessika had told her what she already knew. Why they were keeping whatever it was they knew a secret, Finn wished he knew.

It wasn't even that Poe was acting all that strange toward Finn at least. He still sat with him in Mr. Solo’s class- which had a long term substitute for some reason, an extremely tall man with long thick hair and a nearly indistinguishable accent- and talked the class away, still gave him rides home, still gave him a wave of smile when they saw each other at lunch. But there were the moments where Finn would look up and Poe would look away quickly and sheepishly as though he'd been staring, or when they talked Poe's gaze would drift down somewhere else for a moment, and when he looked back up his bottom lip would disappear between his teeth, or how now whenever they talked Poe's fingers would lace together in his lap or on the desk.

Finn tried not to think anything of it.

Posters began to go up around the school advertising for the spring formal, a dance D’Qar held just before prom to signify the end of the spring sporting seasons, as well as the last event the school had before spring break. It was essentially a watered down version of prom, however, considering prom usually had the same theme of whatever theme the spring formal was, and the fact that for most, whoever you went to the spring formal with- if you went at all- was who you were going to go to prom with. Finn had never gone to any dances, mostly because FOA never held dances and when he transferred to D’Qar he had no interest in them or someone to go with. It wasn't that he minded, he preferred staying at home anyway. Rey had told him she’d gone to one dance her freshman year and left after an hour (“It was just so… boring. Not just because I was alone, but because no one did anything. Also the music was really bad.”) and didn't plan on going to another one. That's what Finn thought anyway up until this particular afternoon.

“So, the spring formal is coming up,” Rey said after dismissing Finn’s missing notebook, pulling a plastic baggy full of cereal out of her purse. Finn nodded, shrugging. “Yeah, and?”

“I was… actually wondering if… you wanted to go with me.”

Finn couldn't help but let out a laugh, which was quickly silenced by a vaguely threatening glare and a kick to his knee. Finn quickly pulled his feet up onto the bench to avoid any other assaults as he continued to ask, “Why ask me if you're going at all? I would think you'd be going with Jessika.”

“Well, here's the thing,” Rey sighed, leaning forward on her elbows. “Jessika already asked me and I said yes- after a lot of thought, mind you- but she's worried about what her parents might say if they see her going to a dance with a girl they've formally never met.”

“I thought her parents were… I don't know, accepting?”

“I mean, they are, from what she's told me. But she's still nervous, you know? I don't blame her. So, she's going to ‘go’ with Poe, because Poe was already planning on going anyway but he hasn't asked who he's going to ask yet-”

“Do you know who he's going to ask?”

“No, and that isn't the point,” Rey said quickly. “The point is. I go with you. Jess goes with Poe. Her parents and his dad take pictures and have the satisfaction of thinking their kids found very nice people to go to the dance with, and then when we get there, I can go off with Jessika and you and Poe can…” She paused for a moment. “Do whatever you want, I guess.”

Finn thought for a moment, pursing his lips and looking down at his lap. “So… you really don't know who Poe’s going to ask yet?”

Rey reached across the table and slugged Finn in the arm. “That isn't the point, doofus- are you going to go with me or not?”

“Ow, jeez, yes, fine,” Finn said quickly, leaning back cautiously to avoid being hit again as he rubbed at his arm. “Do you not realize your own strength?”

“Oh, don't worry, I do.”

Lunch continued as it normally did, Rey talking about the newest weird training technique her coach was trying to enforce, Finn talking about classes. The lacrosse team emerged from the cafeteria as they normally did, only with Jessika breaking off from the group to wind her arms around Rey from behind, hooking her chin over her shoulder. “Oh, it's a sad day,” Jessika sighed, though her face was grinning. Rey smiled back, lifting her hands to grab Jessika's wrists. “Why’s that?”

“Since lacrosse is over for the year, we don't need to practice at lunch anymore. Today’s our last day on the field.”

Rey feigned a pout, sticking out her bottom lip and looking up at Jessika. “What a shame.” Jessika smirked and pulled one arm away to flick Rey’s ear affectionately. “Yeah, yeah, I get it, Miss Year-Long-Season.” Rey laughed, shaking her head as she pulled herself from Jessika's arms. “Only because there's still tournaments outside of school that Luke signs me up for without my permission.” Jessika hummed softly, placing her hands on her hips as she looked up at Finn. “Did she ask you?”

“Did- oh,” Finn said. “Yes, she did.”

“And…?”

“And I said yes.”

Jessika squealed and quickly made her way around the table, throwing her arms around Finn in a much too tight hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Finn,” she said, speaking a mile a minute before she released him. “This means the absolute world to me. I promise I’ll make this up to you and Poe.”

“Wait, what do you mean me and-”

“Testor, I don't want to lose any field time, come on!”

“Gotta go, bye!”

Finn watched as Jessika flounced away, catching a glimpse of Poe, who looked admittedly odd without the jacket Finn now kept in his locker. He was wearing a simple dark green t-shirt with grey jeans, both articles hugging his frame in an extremely flattering way. Poe found Finn’s eye, and the corner of his mouth twitched for a minute before it seemed that he flushed to the tips of his ears and quickly turned to head toward the field. Finn blinked then looked back to Rey, who was still smiling to herself. “Do you know what she's talking about?"

Rey snorted, waving a hand. “Don't worry about it.”

Finn went through the rest of the day not knowing exactly what to think. He tried to distract himself by attempting to remember where he might've left his notebook- it wasn't in his bag, or his locker, or anywhere at home, which probably meant he left it in a classroom, which sounded very unlikely even to him. He was very private about his writing and he wanted to keep it that way; at one point he would bring a different notebook to write in every day just so people didn't think anything of it (he later realized how ridiculous of an idea that was, and he also had to compile all of those notebooks into one huge binder so everything he'd written would all be in one place.) He tried not to worry about it too much- thinking about someone finding his notebook and God forbid reading through it made him sick to his stomach. When Mr. Solo’s class came at the end of the day, Poe was already at the back of the room, much like he usually was. There was something a bit different about him, though. He sat with his shoulders rolled forward, his hands clasped in front of him and his leg bouncing incessantly beneath the desk. His hair was falling into his face, and flew back away from his forehead when Finn walked in. His eyes were wide for a moment, and then his expression softened, lips spreading into a kind smile. Whenever Poe smiled like that, Finn couldn’t help but to smile back.

“Hey,” Poe said once Finn reached him, sitting up and leaning forward. Finn noticed how his hands tangled together between his knees. “You lose my jacket?”

Finn blinked. “I- no, it’s just-”

He was cut off by a gentle chuckle from Poe, who was shaking his head fondly as Finn sat down. “I’m kidding, don’t worry about it. It’s getting warmer anyway, I wouldn’t be wearing it myself.” Finn laughed in spite of himself, hanging his bag over the back of his chair. Poe licked his lips quickly before turning in his chair to face Finn. “So, hey, um…” He started to say, biting his lip softly before the substitute began to speak rather loudly and unclearly. Finn looked between the front of the room and Poe, who rolled his eyes slightly at being interrupted but turned around to face the front begrudgingly. The substitute spoke for a touch longer than five minutes until someone raised their hand and asked him to repeat himself. Finn leaned back in his chair, glancing over to catch Poe yanking out a scrap of paper from his notebook and pulling a pen from the back pocket of his jeans. He scribbled something down quickly then slid the paper to the edge of his desk. Finn took that as an invitation to take the paper, which he did, and read through Poe’s looping script-

“I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after school.”

Finn thought a moment before quickly writing out his response and sliding the paper back.

“Any reason why?”

When Poe looked down at Finn’s writing, he seemed to pause for a moment, as though he stopped breathing momentarily. He closed his eyes and swallowed before writing again.

“I’ve got something important to ask you.”

Finn blushed, biting his lip for a moment.

“Sounds like fun.”

Poe smiled slightly.

“Good.”

**///**

Poe walked beside Finn towards his locker, feeling tense. Trying to calm himself down, he clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides, hoping Finn could keep up conversation. He was saying something about Mr. Solo’s substitute, but Poe wasn’t completely listening, finding himself focused on keeping his eyes off of Finn so he didn’t collide into any walls or open lockers or other people. This proved to be a rather difficult feat, because Finn was wearing a white short-sleeve button down decorated with tropical looking orange and green flowers in place of his usual vintage looking sweater or cardigan, the slim-fit sleeves of which hugged his biceps tightly, and the stark white of the shirt contrasted so well against his dark skin-

Poe blinked and sighed as they reached his locker, and he quickly grabbed his backpack, forgetting about any homework he might’ve had when he watched Finn lean into the lockers with one shoulder, his hands in his pockets. Poe paused for a moment, one hand on his locker about to close it when Finn smiled slightly and tilted his head. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like that. Is there something on my face?”

Poe swallowed and forced an awkward smile as he slammed his locker shut. “Do you need to get anything from your locker?”

As they made their way through the parking lot, Poe spotted Jessika and Rey at Jessika’s car- once her car got fixed up, she started giving Rey rides to and from school- Rey leaning against the trunk with Jessika in front of her, pushing her hair back over her ear. Rey looked up and grinned, then quickly tapped Jessika’s shoulder. She turned around quickly and her mouth dropped open, grinning as she mouthed something that Poe made out to be something along the lines of “You’re going to do it right?” Poe just nodded, forcing a smile. Finn glanced over, seeing Rey as well and gave the two girls a wave. Jessika and Rey just laughed, shaking their heads as they waved back before Jessika went to unlock the car. “Wonder what’s got them in such a good mood,” Finn said. Poe laughed softly, shrugging as he pulled his keys from his pocket. “Yeah, me too.”

The car ride was too quiet for Poe’s tastes, which ultimately made him decide to turn on the radio and crank up the volume. Finn didn’t seem to complain as much as Jessika did about Poe’s music tastes, actually appearing to enjoy his music to an extent (Poe would often catch Finn’s fingers drumming along to the tempo of whatever song he had playing, or the slight nod of his head) which made Poe wonder about what kind of music Finn listened to, what kind of music he grew up with- He realized he was speeding and quickly eased off the gas as he turned down his street.

He was relieved to pull into an empty driveway, knowing that his father would distract him and Finn with questions, having not met Finn yet, and would most likely try to learn his entire life story within the first fifteen minutes of him walking into the house. He took a deep breath as he shut the car off and climbed out, Finn following. BB-8 greeted both of them excitedly, going up onto her hind legs and leaning against Poe’s leg. Poe grinned and kneeled down to scratch her behind the ears for a moment before she brushed passed him to see Finn. Poe laughed softly as Finn patted her head awkwardly; BB-8 turned her head to lick his palm. “Come on,” Poe said as he stood back up, starting down the hall. BB-8 barked and quickly followed after him, and Finn wasn’t far behind.

When Finn stepped into Poe’s room, Poe became acutely aware of what a mess his room actually was. He assumed Finn didn’t mind, but part of him was scolding him for not straightening up. Poe wet his lips as he gestured to the bed awkwardly; Finn laughed and sat down. “I…” He started, trying to find words before swallowing and reaching over towards the bedside table, hand wrapping around the neck of his guitar. “A while back I told you that if you ever wanted to hear me play, you were welcome to,” he said, going to sit down and adjusting the guitar on his lap, giving it a few experimental strums to make sure it was in tune. “I finally wrote something,” he continued. “And… I want to know if you think it’s good.”

“Go ahead,” Finn said, shrugging as he pulled one knee up to his chest. Poe looked up at him and swallowed again before sighing softly and finding the first chord of the song.

It was the poem he received more than two weeks ago, or at least it was heavily inspired by it. The words had stuck with Poe so strongly, and he was able to actually sit down and write a song, something he thought sounded actually good. Playing was the easy part, notes flowing from his hands and out of the instrument like water. For a moment in the interlude, he forgot Finn was sitting across from him. The words came out softly at first, and then he found his courage and sang a bit louder. The further he got into the song, he noticed that Finn’s facial expression changed into something he couldn’t quite read. He reached a break in the lyrics and bit his lip, glancing up at Finn as he played. He gave him an awkward smile before easily drifting into the next verse.

When the song ended, Poe remained silent, allowing the final notes he’d written to ring and ultimately fade. Finn was quiet, too, his eyes down at his lap. Poe bit his lip softly then leaned over to his bedside table, prying open the small drawer connected to it and pulling out Finn’s notebook, as well as the neatly folded poem he now kept there for future inspiration. He licked his lips before holding it out to him, cheeks reddening. “You left this on my car on accident,” he said quietly. “I… I only looked through it because I didn't know what it was. Then I-I read a little of your writing- which I shouldn't have, that was an invasion of your privacy- and I realized that you were the one that gave me this.” He gestured to the poem, the paper it was written across becoming soft considering the wear it had gone through over the past few weeks. Finn remained quiet; Poe waited a beat to see if he would respond before he decided to continue. 

“Look, Finn,” he said slowly, setting the guitar gently on the floor, propping it up against his bed. “I… I know I should've told you this sooner, but I… I really like you. Like. A lot. I don't really know when it happened, or how it happened, but… when we started talking and hanging out, I realized how down-to-earth and genuine and _amazing_ you are, and I don't know if that poem necessarily means much but if it does, then I was- _mph_ -”

He was cut off when Finn’s lips pressed carefully against his own. It was a soft kiss, an experimental kiss. Neither of them moved, aside from Poe's eyes sliding shut after a moment of realization. It was Finn that pulled away after what felt like a century, leaning forward on his hands to close the distance between him and Poe, his eyes half closed for a moment before he looked up and caught Poe's eyes. Poe was blushing again, unsure of what to say, a breath caught in his throat. “You were saying?” Finn broke the silence after a moment. Poe was surprised at how welcoming the sound of his voice was to him in that moment. Finn’s mouth twitched into a gentle smile, and Poe bit his lip softly to suppress a grin. “I was, uh… I was wondering if you’d like to go out some time,” Poe said, trying to collect himself to the best of his ability to sound as smooth as possible when he asked.

“Yes, I think I’d like that,” Finn laughed breathlessly, nodding and reaching up with one hand to gently push Poe's hair away from his forehead. Poe grinned, licking his lips briefly before cautiously leaning in to capture Finn’s lips a second time. This kiss was much smoother, much more fluid than the last. Poe felt Finn's hand slip for his hair to cup the back of his neck, his palm warm and soft. Poe inhaled sharply through his nose as he pressed closer for a moment then pulled away again, finding himself giggling- _giggling_ \- when Finn leaned forward in a chase for his lips. “I’ve got something else to ask,” Poe said, lifting his hands to place them gently on Finn’s forearms. Finn adjusted his position, scooting a bit closer so he wasn't leaning so far forward. “I’m all ears.”

Poe laughed again, grinning broadly.

“Will you go to the spring formal with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I've still got a lot to write for this universe, though (including the spring formal), so don't fret about this part being over!
> 
> For more Star Wars, follow my main at sexwingpilot.tumblr.com, or if you just want fic updates, follow my writing blog majortom-writes.tumblr.com. Or follow both?


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